Various: AJ Francis Wins #20 Spot for Call Your Shot Gauntlet Match & New Match Set for TNA Bound For Glory 2024, Leyla Hirsch Makes Surprise Return on 10/24 ROH TV Show, Indies

Oct 24, 2024

AJ Francis Wins #20 Spot for Call Your Shot Gauntlet Match, Ash & Heather By Elegance vs. Xia Brookside & Brinley Reece Announced for TNA Bound For Glory 2024

Thursday’s Impact! show for TNA Wrestling featured AJ Francis defeating Frankie Kazarian, Sami Callihan, Laredo Kid, Jake Something, and Jason Hotch in a Six-Man Scramble match.

.@AJFrancis410 will enter at #20, while @FrankieKazarian starts the Call Your Shot Gauntlet at #TNABoundForGlory!

Watch #TNAiMPACT now on TNA+: https://t.co/BD2puWefaK pic.twitter.com/V8TPOqEAwP
— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) October 25, 2024

As a result of his victory, Francis earned the #20 spot while Kazarian earned the #1 spot due to him being pinned for the 20-Person Call Your Shot Gauntlet match at TNA Bound For Glory 2024.

Thursday’s Impact! show also featured one new match announced for the card of Bound For Glory 2024, which takes place on October 26th at the Wayne State Fieldhouse in Detroit, Michigan.

This new match announced was a Tag Team match of Ash & Heather By Excellence vs. Xia Brookside & Brinley Reece. It was also announced that this match will be taking place on the Bound For Glory 2024’s pre-show.

BREAKING: @Ashamae_Sebera and @Heathereckless will face @XiaBrookside and @brinleyreecewwe on the Countdown to #TNABoundForGlory, presented by @BLCKSMTHApparel Streaming LIVE and FREE on Oct 26 on TNA Digital Platforms pic.twitter.com/q7oEkiQRO8
— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) October 25, 2024

Current card for TNA Bound For Glory 2024:

TNA World Championship Special Guest Referee match – Joe Hendry vs. Nic Nemeth (c), with Frankie Kazarian as special guest referee
TNA Knockouts World Championship – Masha Slamovich vs. Jordynne Grace (c)
TNA X-Division Championship – El Hijo del Vikingo vs. “Speedball” Mike Bailey (c)
TNA World Tag Team Championship Full Metal Mayhem match – ABC (Ace Austin & Chris Bey) vs. The Hardys (Matt & Jeff Hardy) vs. The System (Eddie Edwards & Brian Myers) (c)
TNA Knockouts World Tag Team Championship – Rosemary & Wendy Choo vs. Spitfire (Jody Threat & Dani Luna) (c)
TNA Digital Media Championship and International Wrestling Championship Monster’s Ball match – Matt Cardona vs. PCO (c)
Moose vs. Mike Santana
Josh Alexander vs. Steve Maclin
Countdown to Bound For Glory Pre-show: 20-Person Call Your Shot Gauntlet match – Frankie Kazarian (#1) vs. Sami Callihan vs. Laredo Kid vs. Jake Something vs. Jason Hotch vs. TBA(s) vs. AJ Francis (#20)
Countdown to Bound For Glory Pre-show: Ash & Heather By Excellence vs. Xia Brookside & Brinley Reece

Leyla Hirsch Makes Surprise Injury Return on Thursday’s ROH Show

Thursday’s ROH TV show for Ring of Honor featured Leyla Hirsch making her surprised on-screen return from injury.

During the show, a video aired featuring Hirsch been seen backstage and talking about her recovery from her shoulder injury. Hirsch stated that she has been medically cleared and everyone get ready because she wants some gold in ROH.

.@LegitLeyla speaks on her injury after Death Before Dishonor as she sets her sights on #ROH gold!

Watch #ROH TV on #HonorClub at https://t.co/8dcdtxr3sN pic.twitter.com/c0gzEqxe8m
— ROH – Ring of Honor Wrestling (@ringofhonor) October 24, 2024

This was Hirsch’s first appearance in ROH since this past July’s Death Before Dishonor 2024 event due to a dislocated shoulder injury.

Misc. Wrestling News & Notes

Thursday’s ROH TV show for Ring of Honor featured Lexy Nair and Billie Starkz holding a ROH Women’s World Championship celebration party in honor of Athena becoming the longest reigning ROH Champion in ROH history. During the segment, a new custom ROH Women’s title spinner belt was unveiled as a gift for Athena. This party ended over Athena being upset at Starkz over the poor quality and planning of the party and Abadon crashing it afterwards and laid out Athena.

Prestige Wrestling announced that Josh Alexander will be making an appearance for the company at their Roseland X event on January 11, 2025 in Portland, Oregon.

Game Changer Wrestling recently announced that next year’s The Collective set of events will be taking place on April 17-19, 2025 at the Pearl Theater at the Palms Casino Resort in Paradise, Nevada.

This past Wednesday’s NBA game of Indiana Pacers vs. Detroit Pistons in Detroit, Michigan featured TNA talents The Hardys and Joe Hendry among those in attendance.

As noted before, former WWE wrestler Ted DiBiase Jr. was charged this in April of 2023 with several criminal charges by the United States Department of Justice over his involvement in embezzling welfare funds as part of a larger welfare scandal in the State of Mississippi. PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that DiBiase Jr.’s trial date of January 7, 2025 was pushed back again to a new date based on recent court records. Johnson reported that besides the trial date, other scheduled related hearings have also been pushed back and the reason is currently not known due to recent motions for the case continue to be sealed.

As noted before, a plagiarism lawsuit against WWE and AEW was dismissed without prejudice in November of 2023 and an amended lawsuit was filed this past February by a man named Anthony Wilson. PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that Wilson’s lawsuit against both companies was officially dismissed on October 22nd based on recent court records. In regards to AEW, Johnson reported that Wilson’s lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice meaning he is not legally allowed to file a new lawsuit against AEW. In regards to WWE, Johnson reported that Wilson’s lawsuit was dismissed for “lack of personal jurisdiction” over Wilson had failed to prove that anything he was alleging or arguing meant that WWE, a Delaware-based entity doing business in Connecticut, should fall under Ohio’s jurisdiction. This lawsuit reportedly was dismissed without prejudice meaning that Wilson would be allowed to refile the lawsuit in the proper jurisdiction if he chooses to do so in the future.

Beyond Wrestling and former WWE talent Drew Gulak are currently with backlash over Beyond booking Gulak for a recent Wrestling Open event and Gulak delivering a controversial promo directed towards Masha Slamovich. This promo referenced Gulak’s past accusations in WWE about him inappropriately touching Ronda Rousey and bullying NXT talent that led to his departure this past May. In the video, Gulak asked Slamovich “At any time, did I ever make you feel uncomfortable in the locker room?” and “At any time, did you feel I was a danger in the locker room?” leading to Slamovich responding “no” to both questions. Gulak then stated that “well you should have” and proceeded to attack Slamovich to end his promo segment. This quickly led to backlash directed at both Beyond and Gulak for turning the accusations into a angle for cheap heel heat and Beyond not releasing an official statement afterwards over the matter.

In a recent interview with WrestleZone, Stardom talent Mina Shirakawa gave her thoughts about her current goals for her wrestling career in 2025. Shirakawa stated “I have won Japanese belts and the British belt, but not yet an American belt. In 2025, I want to be a champion in the United States.“

Major League Wrestling announced one new match for the card of their MLW Fusion taping on November 9th in Cicero, Illinois: