10 Best Impact Face/Heel Turns Vol.1
Photo Credit: IMPACT Wrestling
Outside Impact Wrestling. A long time "Jerichoholic", Mick Foley, Kurt Angle & Hardys fan, pop open a little bit of the Bubbly, read what's being written by me with an open perspective & enjoy.
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5. Taya Valkyrie & Johnny Impact (Road To Valhalla)
Coming into Impact on separate paths, Taya Valkyrie arrived in 2017 & would feud with Rosemary under a Heel role, returning in 2018 to end her rivalry with Rosemary before turning her attention onto Tessa Blanchard at Bound For Glory after a short absence and after failing twice, Taya eventually beat her at Homecoming 2018, winning the Knockouts Championship as a Face character & holding it for a record breaking run.
Johnny Impact would start his Impact run in 2017 facing Alberto El Patron, Eli Drake & Austin Aries under a Face roll. But the biggest stand out moment for these two, benefiting Johnny Impact in the short term & changing Taya Valkyrie’s direction yet again would come when Brian Cage tried to take Impact’s World Title at Hard To Kill after Brian Cage cashed in Option C in November 2018 at Impact’s last week of tapings. Cage would lose to Johnny Impact, building up the incoming, unforeseen rivalry to come. After beating Cage, Killer Kross would begin attacking Johnny Impact week after week, Taya Valkyrie constantly dragging Brian Cage out to save her husband & Cage would end up worse off each time. Leading onto one of the biggest double betrayals in Impact Wrestling history!
The sudden Heel turn from both wrestlers sent shockwaves across the roster. And it was soon realised that senior referee John E Bravo coincidently was the referee in all of Impact’s World Title or main event matches, guaranteeing a win for Johnny Impact right up until he was blocked from being the referee at Brian Cage’s last chance to become World Champion.
At Rebellion 2019 Bravo was replaced Lance Storm, someone who has a lot of history with Johnny Impact, someone Johnny Impact thought he could manipulate too. But Lance Storm called the match right down the middle & after Brian Cage won, he would go on to face off with Michael Elgin who attacked & unfortunately injured him after the match. Johnny Impact would eventually win the X-Division title still under his Heel role, waiting for the chance to return the favour & cash in Option C but Rich Swann would beat him for the X-Division title at Slammiversary & Impact left soon after leaving Taya Valkyrie to continue her run as Knockouts Champion, now using Bravo’s loyalty to her in a more comical way. This part of her character, still acting as an “A list Celebrity” would remain & not stop Taya from putting on very competitive matches, now there was just a lot more character building before or after the matches as her title run crept closer to it’s record breaking finale.
Taya Valkyrie would frequently turn to Rosemary in some of the funniest interactions between the two, begging for help from the Demon Assassin against Havok & Su Yung & after she finally lost the title to Jordynne Grace before Rebellion 2020, the interactions between Rosemary & Taya Valkyrie would build her up more into the popularity & charismatic levels , the most unlikely alliance between once bitter enemies had sent both Knockouts even higher in the “fan favourites” list.
The Heel turn on Brian Cage & animosity from the fans from it created, now totally forgotten & Taya Valkyrie could transition into a Face or Heel role at any time without needing to change anything about her character. A rare accomplishment matched only by Decay (or Rosemary on her own at this time), LAX or The Broken Hardys. Once again a testament to how much creative freedom Impact Wrestling gives to their superstars & what happens when they can shake off any uncertainty they might have had of their own ability.
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