I have been burned before by predicting anyone from TNA winning an NXT belt of vice versa…but I’m ready to be burned again. Things have been different since the announcement of an official working agreement. They aren’t just doing matches as surprises now. They've been working real programs on both shows with full builds. I think the Hardys eventually win the NXT tag belts in an earned title shot after successfully defending the TNA titles. And I think Cora wins the KO belt at Sacrifice. There are storyline reasons to do both. The Hardys aren’t going to be a one program and done act in WWE. I expect this is a soft return until their deals are up next year where they’ll be used often. Fraxiom has beaten everyone that is believable to beat them…and a couple of losses give them a goal to get them back. Perhaps in a TLC match meant to solidify Fraxiom as THE team of the present? Whatever you think of the Hardys in 2025…the fans still lose their shit for them and doing that would mean something.
Similarly, Cora’s story of winning a belt can pay off in TNA and solve the Masha vs Tessa problem. Which is…that’s the biggest KO match TNA can do with their roster and the dynamics are off right now. Masha should be chasing. Her winning it from Tessa is your BFG moment…but you don’t want to do the match with Tessa so early to flip the belt. I’d have Tessa (who has teased sticking her nose in Masha’s business and had a moment stare down with Cora already) cost Masha the match. That let’s you transition the belt from Cora to Tessa at Rebellion or Slammiversary or wherever. Plus…Cora has been a regular on Impact from the restart of this partnership. It’s felt like she’s been built specifically for this moment. Not just “ omg an NXT wrestler won a TNA belt”. More like…well…she earned the match, has been on tv for a while, and we told an actual story with the character who is now champion.
Now that I’ve written all that…the streak of no changes will definitely continue.
