Impact Wrestling’s build to the big 20. Part 1
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.
- Impact Wrestling’s build to the big 20. Part 1 - February 25, 2022
- (Exclusive) Rosemary: A Journey through the Valley of Shadows – PART 1 - September 19, 2021
- Revival of the X-Division: Tale of the Tape - June 20, 2021
Impact’s Roster Continues to Evolve
Always a talking point. Always under heavy scrutiny or extremely high praise. 2022’s roster has had a massive shake up, for better or worse, some of it sadly unavoidable (I hope that we will have The Walking Weapon back ASAP) but Impact Wrestling has been focused on making their promotion the place people who want that “Big break” into the global spotlight to come & what happens next is mostly down to individual’s decisions.
Impact Wrestling’s roster has seen it’s expected share of cuts at the start of the year, Rohit Raju, Fallah Bahh, TNA/Impact Wrestling veteran Hernandez & Rachel Ellering all let go after deciding not to return when their contracts expired (could go into the nitty-gritty about Rachel Ellering but, that’s just unproven speculation & not worth humoring her for more attention). The biggest loss so far being the shocking events that have stopped Josh Alexander renewing his contract due to Visa issues with the US & Canada.
2022 has seen the likes of Lady Frost (who debuted in December 2021), Masha Slamovich, “Speedball” Mike Bailey, Gisele Shaw, Bhupinder Gujar burst into the “Big leagues” & the return of Jay White & the G.O.D to Impact Wrestling at the beginning of February has blown away & shaken up already deeply developed storylines. And after No Surrender the team of “Honor No More”, former ROH stars Mike Bennett, Matt Taven, Vincent, PCO, Kenny King & Maria Kanellis-Bennett have now joined Impact Wrestling on a more permanent basis.
The X-Division is getting a huge influx of talent all ready to claim their spot as the next champion or even jump into the World Title hunt later in the year. Stars like X-Division champion Trey Miguel, Ace Austin, Jake Something, Chris Bey & Laredo Kid (who has now signed a 2 year contract with Impact Wrestling) providing massive diversity & have already made Mike Bailey one to watch for 2022.
As Ring of Honor prepares to return in April we’ve had ROH World Championship matches between Jonathan Gresham vs. Chris Sabin & then Steve Maclin showcasing the unbelievable technical skills of all involved & Rok C also lost her ROH Women’s World Championship to Deonna Purrazzo (someone who helped restart their Women’s division & praised as a pioneer before she made the mistake of going to the WWE) giving Rok C a final farewell to her independent career as she has now bitten the bullet & is signed to the WWE. However rumours of Athena (fka Ember Moon) being on Impact Wrestling’s radar & former Knockouts Champion, former AAA Reina de Reinas Champion Taya Valkyrie are now both on the hunt to end Deonna Purrazzo’s Champ-Champ legacy mean that the Knockouts division is still ready to blow away the fans anytime, any place.
In ring legends such as Alex Shelley are making a return at the next Impact+ special which has created a huge buzz & anticipation for upcoming & possibly other incoming or cross promotion talent. And to top that off, we’ve even had the return of Former TNA/WWE producer Lance Storm to Impact & work backstage alongside Tommy Dreamer, Gail Kim, Jimmy Jacobs & D’Lo Brown.
Stars such as Rosemary, Jordynne Grace, Ace Austin, Moose & most recently announced Cody Deaner have renewed their contracts with Impact Wrestling. Deaner even giving an interview to Slamwrestling.net giving an intimate & deep reflection on the atmosphere at Impact Wrestling, adding as to why this company is always a huge draw for many people, especially those on the independent scene wanting to maintain or build their current character. Link to this interview below.
https://slamwrestling.net/index.php/2022/02/24/exclusive-cody-deaner-re-signs-with-impact/
There’s always something or someone of great interest not far from the horizon. Yes, it’s been a bumpy start to the year but 2 months in & we’ve already got huge stars (in terms of ability & global recognition) coming in & leaving a much greater impression & getting a much more welcoming response from fans than “big signings” going to either AEW or the WWE had done.
Unpredictability & Storylines Prevail
One of Impact Wrestling’s strongest attributes is it’s creative freedom, character development & building of rivalries into short or long term arcs that rarely disappoint, whether you’re a fan of those involved or not. The pandemic threw a lot of plans into chaos & while there’s still the unwanted, unexpected surprises (Sami Callihan’s injuries last year & Covid precautions being a couple of examples) Impact Wrestling always finds a way to work with it, rather than let it damage what’s coming next.
The rivalries between Moose & W.Morrissey as well as Mickie James & Tasha Steelz started to build up fully around December & come February’s Impact Plus special both matches surpassed all hype built up in just over 2 months, Moose & W.Morrissey bringing their long building mistrust & shaky alliance since Slammiversary 2020.
Violent By Design & Decay are two prime examples of Impact Wrestling’s creative freedom blossoming with some of the most entertaining promos & interactions with other superstars, but even Decay pulled a huge surprise out of their hat when Black Taurus managed to stop the “Top Dog” Jonah’s momentum briefly bringing both men onto a collision course which (in my opinion) proved to be one of the best matches of No Surrender alongside Eric Young’s match against Bullet Club leader “Switchblade” Jay White.
One of the greatest storylines has been the rebuild Josh Alexander was getting. But, now that we’ve had the unforeseen issue with his legal rights to work in the US, this has or could easily be twisted into 1 of the many triggers for long time Face of the company Eddie Edwards’ shocking Heel turn at No Surrender. Where this is going is open to many outcomes, but Steve Maclin, who was added in place of Josh Alexander & given his untrustworthy Heel role was expected to break down the alliance of Team Impact now has Eddie Edwards in his sights as does currently injured superstar Sami Callihan, although Sami may just be playing along to bolster this huge storyline.
Hard To Kill set the expectation of what Impact Wrestling needed to & was going to deliver this year & since that pay per view Impact Wrestling has not faulted or failed to deliver. Hard To Kill showed us what kind of quality & intensity we can expect on the road to Rebellion & possibly even through to Slammiversary. In comparison to the Royal Rumble by the WWE, Hard To Kill received much higher praise & overall fan satisfaction with the booking of matches.
The build to No Surrender despite the controversy & set backs when the tapings reached Florida hasn’t been damaged in any way, each night just grew with excitement from debuting talent such as Bhupinder Gujar & Gisele Shaw to the rivalries between Moose & W.Morrissey, the beginning of the Honor No More invasion & talent such as ROH World Champion Jonathan Gresham continuing to build up Ring of Honor’s come back whilst also being an unlikely finger of suspicion, as the possibility of him being a part of Honor No More might (it certainly was always a possibility) have been in on the invasion angle.
Week after week has gone by with a great mix of matches, promos have been straight to the point & from some superstars such as Tasha Steelz, Deonna Purrazzo, Eric Young, W.Morrissey & Matt Cardona they’ve been some of the best we’ve seen from them since they came in (or back) to Impact Wrestling.
The return of The Bullet Club bringing Violent By Design & The Good Brothers together created a lot of excitement & the unbelievable turn of events at No Surrender by Jay White & Chris Bey during the Impact Wrestling Tag Team Championship match was the biggest & most unexpected shock of the night. Eddie Edwards turning on Impact Wrestling was something people wanted to see, but I really don’t think anyone could have predicted how brilliantly this could be pulled off because when those expecting a Heel turn got their wish, they fell into it perfectly, once again reflecting just how intelligent Impact Wrestling’s creativity is if it can make the “bound to happen at some point” cause global outrage 😉.
2 months in & we’ve seen 3 “First Time Ever” extravaganzas from the Knockouts (Rosemary, Alisha Edwards, Lady Frost, Jordynne Grace, Chelsea Green & Tasha Steelz) compete in the Ultimate X for a number one contendership for the Knockouts Championship. At No Surrender Jay White took on Eric Young for the first time ever in either of their incredibly long careers as well traveled professional wrestlers & for the first time ever we saw The Good Brothers vs G.O.D even despite their long history in Japan these two teams NEVER faced off against each other.
With another huge history making match involving Jay White & Alex Shelley at the upcoming Impact Plus special Sacrifice, there’s plenty of time to add more blockbuster matches. One match being X-Division Champion Trey Miguel taking on one of Impact Wrestling’s greatest all round, but often overlooked performers Jake Something. With a lot to prove & keep himself as a key player in the X-Division rather than someone to fill the gaps, we saw Something wrestling with more aggression & purpose in his 4-way number one contendership match, making this upcoming title match already something to keep your eyes on as we build towards Sacrifice in just over 2 weeks. And with the fallout from the Bullet Club rebrand & Moose & Mickie James now needing fresh meat for their Championship matches, it’s going to be exciting, never mind interesting, to see who steps up to the plate whilst the rest of the locker room tries to get some answers from the (former) “Heart & Soul of Impact Wrestling” Eddie Edwards…
Thanks for reading. I’ll be continuing this analysis on Wrestle Buddy’s YouTube channel, diving into news & rumours as well as picking out some of the biggest highlights of the month. I’ll be writing the next part of this series of blog posts after we’ve headed into Rebellion (instead of a monthly video) in April .
You can also find my weekly analysis via Total Nonstop IMPACT on YouTube as a part of TNI-UK IMPACTED. Any feedback on this blog post feel free to drop it into the comments. And should you wish to find me online you can follow the JoeKer on Twitter. Links to all 3 below.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JOKEmptySpace?t=nNTuf3nvfHlni-spqUUwmQ&s=09
TNI-UK No Surrender Review: https://youtu.be/_Now61sg4T0
Wrestlebuddy YouTube Channel: https://youtube.com/c/WrestleBuddyPodcast
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