Various: Mike Santana Addresses His & Frankie Kazarian’s Past Time at AEW Saying “We Were At A Place That Tried To Drain The Passion Out Of What We Love The Most” on 1/8 TNA Impact! Show, Lacey Lane Aligns with Cru on 1/8 ROH TV Show, Indies/Misc.

Jan 9, 2026

Mike Santana Addresses His & Frankie Kazarian’s Time at AEW Saying “We Were At A Place That Tried To Drain The Passion Out Of What We Love The Most”

Thursday’s TNA Impact! show featured a TNA World Championship match contract signing segment involving TNA World Champion Frankie Kazarian, Mike Santana, Nic Nemeth, and TNA Director of Authority Santino Marella.

This segment was notable for comments made by Santana during his promo portion referencing both his and Kazarian’s time in AEW stating that their passion for wrestling was being drained there and they had to leave.

“At one point in time, we were both at the same place, miserable as all hell. We were at a place that tried to drain the passion out of what we love the most, and what did we do? We held each other up, we left that place, we bet on ourselves and today, we’re sitting across from each other about to go toe-to-toe for the grandest prize in pro wrestling on the biggest show in TNA history!”

.@Santana_Proud keeps it real with @FrankieKazarian!

WATCH #TNAiMPACT on TNA+: https://t.co/EkIqqcvwIi pic.twitter.com/Sn5Vr8u1AN
— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) January 9, 2026

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

Lacey Lane Aligns with Cru on Jan. 8th ROH TV Show

Thursday’s Ring of Honor’s ROH TV show featured Lacey Lane officially aligning herself with Cru (Action Andretti & Lio Rush) to form a new mixed trios group in ROH and AEW.

During the show, Lane accompanied Cru to their ring for their tag team match against Will Allday & Jay Alexander, which was won by Cru.

In a follow-up backstage interview segment, Cru officially offered Lane a spot in their group, which Lane quickly accepted.

CRU are back in ROH, with @IamLioRush and @ActionAndretti adding @Laceyy_Lane to the ranks!

Watch #ROH TV on #HonorClub at https://t.co/8dcdtxr3sN pic.twitter.com/Hfn9ngj7Tb
— ROH – Ring of Honor Wrestling (@ringofhonor) January 9, 2026

Misc. Wrestling News & Notes

Major League Wrestling recently announced that Ikuro Kwon, Donovan Dijak, and Bishop Dyer are the next official competitors for this year’s Battle Riot match at their Battle Riot VIII event on January 29th in Kissimmee, Florida.

Jersey Championship Wrestling recently announced that KJ Orso and Joe Lando are the next official competitors for this year’s Jersey J-Cup tournament at their Jersey J-Cup 2026 event on February 6-7 in Jersey City, New Jersey.

Booker T recently announced that his Reality of Wrestling promotion will be holding a new competition series for indies wrestlers called “PROSEP-X.” Booker T stated that this upcoming new competition series will feature 10 indies wrestlers from around the United States and the winner to receive an official ROW roster spot.

As noted before, Rei Saito has been out of action for All Japan Pro Wrestling since this past August due to a shoulder injury and surgery. Saito recently announced that he will be making his in-ring return from injury at AJPW’s February 23rd event in Tokyo, Japan.

In a recent interview with the Open & Direct Discussions podcast, Jeff Hardy gave his thoughts about him planning to wear “never-before-done” face paint for his appearance at next week’s TNA Impact! premiere show on AMC on January 15th in Garland, Texas. Hardy stated “The reason I got my full beard going on right now, I have a- I feel like it’s going to work, but a breakthrough, mind-blowing, never-done-before face paint idea for January the 15th. It comes off the way I’m thinking, man. It’s going to be one of a kind. No, it won’t be glow. It won’t be glow. It’ll just be super impressive.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

In a recent interview with the Reel Appreciation podcast, Matt Hardy gave his thoughts about how TNA Wrestling’s new television deal with AMC could potentially open the door to WWE main roster talents making appearances on TNA as part of the working relationship between both companies. Hardy stated “I feel very confident you are going to see The Hardy Boyz show up on a main roster show, maybe a main roster pay-per-view, who knows? Anything can happen now. And I think you’re going to see WWE main roster talent even coming over to TNA now that we’re on AMC. I think it’s a game-changer, and I think it’s going to make wrestling so much more fun and so much more unpredictable. And wrestling is at its best when it’s unpredictable.” Hardy also gave his thoughts about how TNA’s new deal with AMC now puts the company on the same level as WWE and AEW. Hardy stated “It’s huge, it’s massive. Because AMC is on every basic cable package. If you have cable TV, you get AMC. Every hotel has AMC. So we’re back in the game, man. You know, TNA — they did great things with Spike. After the Spike deal went away, they were struggling [for a few years] and they were getting by. And now, we’re back in the game. We’re back on the same level as a WWE, as an AEW. So it’s really exciting. And the thing I’m most happy about is that it makes the pro wrestling industry healthier.” (Transcript h/t: F4WOnline.com)

ACTION Wrestling recently announced one new match for the card of their Newnan Knightmare III event on January 30th in Newman, Georgia: