As the year 2025 begins, it’s important to look back at the year prior in order to learn from the mistakes and successes we had before.

2024 was an impressive one for the former IMPACT Wrestling, as the first few months saw a load of media attention for both good and bad reasons. Still, the company was able to maintain a sustainable amount of press coverage, fan investment and arguably do some of the best business it’s seen in years.

So of course we here at Lace ‘Em Up thought what better way to reflect on the last 12 months than by looking at the highest of highs for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in the year of 2024.

Dishonorable Mentions

• Scott D’Amore’s Departure
• Chris Bey’s Neck Injury
• Too Many Rematches (PCO vs. Kon, Spitfire vs. Malisha, The System vs. The ABC)
• The Constant Title Swaps of the KO Tag Belts
• Production Issues w/Sacrifice
• Gisele Shaw’s failed Babyface Run

Honorable Mentions

• Comedic Pairings (SDL and PCO, Ash By Elegance and The Personal Concierge)
• Josh Alexander’s Heel Turn
• Nic Nemeth: TNA’s Free Agent Signing
• Improved Production and The Return of the Cross the Line Theme Song
• New Management and Company Stability
• Bob Ryder and Rhino’s Hall of Fame Inductions
• The LA/NYC 2025 Announcement

#10. Various Returns

Aside from Steph De Lander and Matt Cardona’s returns earlier in the year, the big returns came at the Rebellion pay-per-view back in April; Names like Sami Callihan, Mike Santana and Matt Hardy with the latter two going on to play integral parts in TNA programming in the months that followed, that said Callihan did get a backstage role as the head of TNA’s Live Event Division…So not too shabby.

More returns soon came during the Total Nonstop Summer Tour in the form of Dezmond Xaiver aka Wes Lee, The Hex came back for a set of tapings, Shera returned for a one off match at Emergence, Jeff Hardy’s return damn near blew the roof off of the Cierco Stadium and even Earl Hebner came back at Slammiversary for a memorable spot, but more on that later.

The returns themselves may vary in quality especially in hindsight, but they were a joy to watch both at the time and looking back now.

#9. Mustafa Ali and The X Division

A former WWE superstar comes to TNA, does some stuff and then leaves not long afterwards….While this certainly does describe Mustafa Ali’s run in TNA, it’s actually more intriguing than you might think.

After weeks of hype and declaring his intention of wanting to make the X Division Great Again, Ali debuted at No Surrender to wrestle Chris Sabin in the main event for the X Division Championship which he prevailed to much fanfare.

Ali’s time on top of the X Division saw him make alliances with everyone from the Good Hands to the Grizzled Young Vets to Raj Singh, defeat both members of the Motor City Machine guns in singles and tag action, become the first X Division Champion since 2006 to grace the cover of Pro Wrestling Illustrated and became one of the more opportunistic champions in that belts recent history while also putting on incredible match after incredible match.

When Ali dropped the belt to Mike Bailey and left the company after losing a world title bout to Nic Nemeth on an episode of IMPACT!, the X Division continued their success with short but memorable title runs for Bailey and Zachary Wentz, Leon Slater’s continuing rise within the division and Moose unexpectedly winning the title to close out the year.

While not the X Division of the mid to late 2000’s, 2024 was still a good year for TNA’s cruiserweight class.

#8. Brand New Signings

2025 is going to see a few key names leaving the company in the early and even later part of the year, but credit to TNA as they’ve been stacking their roster not only with names from the past but also some new talent.

From Hard To Kill until now, TNA has signed more wrestlers to short term or exclusive contracts this year than at anytime in recent memory with the list of names going as follows:

• Ash By Elegance
• A.J. Francis
• Hammerstone
• Xia Brookside
• Steph De Lander
• Heather Reckless/Heather By Elegance
• Judas Icarus and Travis Williams (Sinner and Saint)
• KC Navarro
• Lei Ying Lee

Add in the names who re-signed with TNA this year like Santana, Steve Maclin, Sami Callihan and The Hardys plus wrestlers set to return or make their debuts like KiLynn King and Harley Hudson and it looks like TNA is setting itself up to create a new crop of stars.

#7. Slammiversary & Bound For Glory

In the wake of Scott D’Amore’s, exit the TNA product felt like they were going through the motions and wrestling fans (not including the TNA Faithful) quickly lost interest. That changed by the summer when TNA got a much needed boost of good publicity thanks in no small part to some of their pay-per-views and in particular Slammiversary and Bound For Glory.

TNA’s yearly summer event was remarkable for multiple reasons, not only did the show happen to air on my birthday (what a great present that was for me), but the show delivered across the board from an in-ring standpoint and most of the production, be sure to check out my article on all of the 2024 TNA PPV’s for my more in-depth thoughts.

The same could also be said for Bound For Glory which (much like Slammiversary) had solid matches, good production on the company’s part and a real sense of anticipation both for the show itself and the tapings that would come afterward.

Not only were Slammiversary and Bound For Glory great wrestling shows, but they also did some incredible business for the company as both have become the most attended events in the company’s history in the last several years…Here’s hoping this success will continue into 2025.

#6. The System

TNA doesn’t over do it when comes to stables and factions like WWE and AEW, but when the company is able to produce some they can either be a hit or a miss and it’s safe to say TNA’s newest faction has certainly been a major hit.

While the seeds for this alliance were subtly planted in the months prior, the group we know as “The System” officially came to existence on the 2024 Hard To Kill preshow during a backstage interview. When photos began to show the group of Moose, Brian Myers as well as Eddie and Alisha Edwards dressed in suits and fancy clothes it didn’t take long for some to think this was TNA’s attempt at redoing the Main Event Mafia, but without any of the original members.

Before long, the group were holding the Tag Team, World Heavyweight and even the Knockouts Tag Team Titles for most of the year while at the same time dominating their competition, they even managed to bring the former Fandango into the mix and his done well for himself in the group.

Unlike the Mafia where everyone was a former world champion and main event star, The System allowed it’s members to work their way back into the main event, continued to put on incredible matches and get some much needed development…Speaking of which Alisha Edwards perhaps is the MVP of the System in 2024 as she’s become loud and obnoxious on the microphone, but also more comfortable in her character than what we’ve seen in previous years.

Whether their wearing fancy outfits or America inspired tracksuits, The System has been a great part of TNA this year.

#5. Jordynne Grace: History Maker

Although she’s been with the company since late 2018 and has put on some of the best matches of this generation under the IMPACT/TNA banner, it was in 2024 when Grace became the focal point of the Knockouts Division.

Starting off the year by becoming a three time Knockouts Champion and shocking the world with her presence at the Women’s Royal Rumble, Jordynne would go on a dominating frenzy as she retained her title against most of TNA’s female roster including Trinity, Gisele Shaw, Xia Brookside, Tasha Steelz and Ash By Elegance.

Soon Grace had to find competition elsewhere which led to her appearing on the May 28th edition of WWE NXT where she challenged Roxanne Perez for her Women’s Championship, but failed to win the gold at Battleground thanks to some outside distractions.

This opened the door to many open challenges which were answered by some of NXT’s most recognizable stars for most the Summer and Autumn until she dropped the belt to Masha Slamovich at this year’s Bound For Glory. Aside from having her ear piercings ripped out in not one but two different title matches, Jordynne Grace’s 2024 was largely a success and helped to cement her legacy as one of TNA’s all time greatest.

#4. NXT/TNA Partnership

While were on the subject of NXT stars interacting with TNA Wrestlers, let’s finally talk about the partnership that absolutely no one expected nor believed would actually happen given the history of the respective companies.

As mentioned, Jordynne Grace’s appearance at this year’s Royal Rumble and on NXT got the wrestling world talking which led to Triple H explaining at a press conference that this partnership would end up benefitting both companies.

Soon enough, this partnership would create a level of unpredictablity and must watch TV; Whether it’s helping TNA get more exposure to their brand or giving the NXT wrestlers more opportunities to compete against stars in other companies, the NXT partnership has become one of the best things in pro wrestling as it’s allowing companies to interact in ways that never would’ve happened during Vince McMahon’s time in WWE.

While the partnership has been put on hold until the new year and it’s unclear how long it will last or even if main roster WWE talent might get involved, it’s safe to say that the partnership between NXT and TNA has benefitted a number of wrestlers, which brings me to….

#3. Hendry Mania

As I alluded to in my 10 Best TNA Wrestlers of 2024 article, Joe Hendry’s career trajectory changed when he dropped his theme song onto the U.K. music charts combined with his appearances on NXT. However it’s worth noting that Hendry’s rise to super stardom began much earlier in the year when he feuded with A.J. Francis for months leading to parody songs by Hendry and Rich Swann turning heel to join forces with Francis.

Following his NXT and U.K. music chart success, Hendry would soon become a world wide sensation with everyone (wrestling fan or not) getting in on the fun as they said his name or sang his song.

This popularity helped to launch Hendry into TNA’s main event scene where he battled the likes of Kazarian, Josh Alexander and Nic Nemeth with the latter happening in the semi-main event of Bound For Glory.

While he hasn’t won the world championship as of the timing of this article, he still is one of the most popular acts in TNA and it appears we could be looking at Hendry versus Nemeth part 2 in the main event of Genesis 2025.

#2. TNA’s Newsworthy January

Right now, TNA is experiencing a level of momentum and popularity it’s never had since being kicked off SPIKE TV a decade ago; Oh sure there was the media buzz when it came to Broken Matt Hardy in 2016 or the hype surrounding some of their Slammiversary PPV’s, but TNA is feeling hotter than it’s ever been before and it first started back in January.

Despite a lackluster attempt to maintain intrigue after the TNA announcement back at BFG 2023, the company’s social media team found a way to keep fan investment alive leading to Hard To Kill.

After the success of that PPV, TNA went from strenght to strenght from signing new stars, a new aesthetic to the staging area, Jordynne Grace at the Royal Rumble, Will Ospreay and Josh Alexander’s second match getting TNA a 5.5 star rating from Dave Meltzer and the return of Okada where he not only competed but finally forgave TNA for their prior mistakes.

Of course Scott D’Amore’s departure and the locker room backlash in Feburary severly damaged this momentum, but looking back at it TNA was getting coverage almost on the same level as All Elite Wrestling and this was before their partnership with WWE and Hendry Mania.

#1. TNA’s Business Success

Aside from wrestlers returning or debuting for the company, aside from established names getting their moments to shine, and heck even aside from their partnership with WWE, 2024 might go down as one of the most lucrative years in TNA Wrestling post SPIKE TV.

Hard To Kill got the ball rolling for the company when they did their largest gate in over a decade and the reception for the show was widely positive; While the Rebellion PPV in April yielded some underwelming returns, the month of May saw TNA’s fortunes take a sizable turn for the better and it hasn’t stopped since.

Against All Odds saw a big uptick in subscribers to the TNA Plus App, Victory Road had the biggest attendance figures for a U.S. TNA Wrestling event until BFG and much like those two shows: Turning Point, Emergence and Final Resolution were all sold out events.

Add in the fact that both Slammiversary and Bound For Glory were sold out events and the buyrates were also impressive, but the fact that TNA is set to have their Genesis, Rebellion and Slammiversary 2025 PPV’s in larger venues…Should tell you just how much TNA Wrestling is flying high going into the new year.

For managing to sell out shows on a consistent basis, for the amount of buys and subscribers they were able to have and for the amount of new growth it’s had in the second half of the year is what makes this the best thing about TNA Wrestling in 2024.

Do you agree or disagree with my list? What has been the best thing about TNA Wrestling in 2024 for you? Let me know in the comments section.

Make sure to follow Lace ‘Em Up on X @laceemupoffice and on Bluesky Social @laceemupmedia.bsky.social. You can follow me on X @hakeemfullerton and Bluesky Social @hakeem96.bsky.social for wrestling related articles and have a happy new year’s everyone…See you in 2025.