Mustafa Ali was this close to sneaking his way into the TNA World Title match at Slammiversary, but the door slammed shut on Impact.
During the June 18 episode of TNA Impact, TNA announced that Ali will defend the TNA International Championship at Slammiversary on June 28 in an open challenge. His opponent has not been revealed, so Ali is walking into the pay-per-view with the belt and a mystery problem waiting for him. The funny part is, Ali almost had a much bigger prize sitting in front of him.
Earlier in the night, Order 4’s Mustafa Ali, John Skyler, and Jason Hotch teamed up against Nic Nemeth, Mike Santana, and K.C. Navarro. Before things got rolling, authority figure Daria Rae laid down a very specific warning for Santana and Nemeth.
If Nemeth put hands on Santana, he was out of the TNA World Title match at Slammiversary. If Santana put hands on Nemeth, he would be stripped of the TNA World Championship. Either way, Ali would have been the guy sliding right into that spot. That was the whole setup. Ali just needed Santana or Nemeth to lose their cool.
They didn’t. Santana and Nemeth stayed away from each other long enough to keep the Slammiversary World Title match intact, which left Ali without the backdoor path into the main title scene. Instead, TNA moved him into an International Title defense, and now he has to put his own championship on the line against whoever answers the open challenge.
That is not exactly a safe consolation prize. Open challenges are usually where somebody unexpected walks through the curtain and ruins the champion’s night. Ali may not have gotten Mike Santana or Nic Nemeth at Slammiversary, but he could still end up dealing with a headache he never saw coming.
Updated TNA Slammiversary lineup for June 28, 2026:
- Mustafa Ali vs. TBA for the TNA International Championship in an open challenge match
- Cedric Alexander (c) vs. Leon Slater vs. TBA vs. TBA vs. TBA vs. TBA in an Ultimate X match for the X-Division Championship
- Mike Santana (c) vs. Nic Nemeth for the TNA World Championship
- Léi Yǐng Lee (c) vs. Xia Brookside for the TNA Knockouts World Championship
- The System (Brian Myers & Bear Bronson) (c) vs. Broken Hardys (‘Broken’ Matt Hardy & Brother Nero) vs. The Righteous (Vincent & Dutch) for the TNA World Tag Team Championship
- The Elegance Brand (M by Elegance & Heather by Elegance) (c) vs. Allie & Rosemary for the TNA Knockouts World Tag Team Championship
- Ricky Sosa vs. Eric Young
- Moose vs. Eddie Edwards
Who do you think should answer Mustafa Ali’s open challenge at TNA Slammiversary? Please share your thoughts and feedback in the comments section below.
