For the first time in nearly three years, TNA Xplosion has returned to the company’s weekly TV lineup.
TNA announced the news Friday, adding that the show will debut weekly on Fridays for TNA+ subscribers before debuting Tuesdays on YouTube.
Each week’s show will feature two new matches and promotional segments with Gia Miller. The debut that launched today features Rhino vs. Shera and Joe Hendry vs. Rich Swann.
The original version launched in November 2002 before its initial cancelation in March 2021, lasting 856 episodes before being replaced by Before The Impact.
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Technical issues marred Thursday’s TNA Impact on AXS TV broadcast, forcing the network to re-air the show on Friday at 7 PM Eastern.
The company announced the news on Friday, but didn’t clarify what caused the problems.
The show featured the in-ring debut of Nic Nemeth, Kazuchika Okada’s return to TNA for the first time since 2011, and a Knockouts title rematch between champion Jordynne Grace and Trinity.
Here’s a look at Impact Wrestling’s TV taping from Sunday at The Bomb Factory in Dallas, Texas, that will cover the next few weeks of AXS TV shows.
Thanks to Marvin Pruitt.
Before The Impact:
Black Taurus defeated Matthew Rehwoldt
Digital Media Champion Jordynne Grace defeated Lady Frost to retain and was then confronted by Matt Cardona after the match.
Scott D’Amore said they would be back in Dallas for WrestleCon on April 1.
Impact Wrestling:
W. Morrissey came out for a promo on Moose, challenging him for the World title. Moose appeared and declined, saying he is giving the shot to someone else.
The Ring of Honor group that appeared at Hard to Kill came out and jumped D’Lo Brown, putting him through a table. He did not appear for the remainder of the night.
Laredo Kid defeated Chris Bey. X-Division Champion Trey Miguel was on commentary.
“Speedball” Mike Bailey defeated Jake Something. Ace Austin and Madman Fulton were on commentary.
Masha Slamovich squashed a local competitor.
Josh Alexander came out for a promo. He wanted a Impact World title shot without any more distractions. Charlie Haas interrupted and challenged Alexander. Alexander said that he wanted the title shot first. This led to a brawl with Alexander eventually accepting Haas’ challenge.
World Champion Moose defeated Zicky Dice to retain. After the match, Morrissey came out and ran off Moose and then destroyed Dice and VSK. Brian Myers watched, but did not help.
Jonah defeated Raj Singh. Singh had cut a promo asking for competition prior to the match.
AAA Reina de Reinas Deonna Purrazzo defeated Rok-C to win the ROH Women’s title in a title vs. title match. Ian Riccaboni and Matthew Rehwoldt were on commentary. The ROH group then came out and confronted Purrazzo after the match. Rehwoldt, Rich Swann and Willie Mack came out for the save, but were laid out by the group.
The Influence defeated Havok in a handicap match as they had jumped Rosemary prior to the match. They took selfies of the fallen Havoc after the match.
Tasha Steelz defeated Chelsea Green. Knockouts Champion Mickie James was on commentary. Steelz confronted James after the match which led to a brawl with Steelz and Samantha Evans attacking James. Green made the save for James.
W. Morrissey defeated Zicky Dice and VSK in a handicap match while Myers watched on from commentary. Morrissey cut a promo saying that if he didn’t get a title shot, he would go find Moose.
ROH World Champion Jonathan Gresham defeated Steve Maclin to retain while the ROH group watched from the balcony.
Doc Gallows and Joe Doering defeated Heath and Rhino after interference from Deaner. Karl Anderson was on commentary while Eric Young was at ringside.
Josh Alexander defeated Charlie Haas. Chris Sabin was on commentary The ROH group appeared again after the match, attacking Alexander, Haas, Sabin, Swann, Mack, Heath and Rhino, who had come out to try and make the save. Eddie Edwards came out with a kendo stick to clean house. Maria Kanellis said that there was honor no more. Edwards said that, “We are Impact and we will not be disrespected.”
Impact next heads to the Charles Dodge Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for more Impact on AXS TV tapings on January 21st and 22nd.
A video promo announcing a Thursday, March 3 return date for new episodes aired during today’s Wrestle Kingdom 16 night one event. The show will air weekly following Impact Wrestling on AXS beginning on Thursday, January 20 with “classic” episodes.
According to an Anthem press release, AXS sister channel The Fight Network will also air the NJPW content throughout Canada, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
While not announced, the show will likely be comprised of matches from major NJPW shows from months prior, rather than any new content being produced. The January 20 episode will feature Kenny Omega vs. Chris Jericho from Wrestle Kingdom 12.
NJPW previously aired on AXS from 2014 to 2019, with Jim Ross, Mauro Ranallo and Josh Barnett providing commentary at different points. The partnership ended after Anthem Sports and Entertainment, Impact’s parent company, purchased a controlling interest in AXS.
Initially there was no business relationship between NJPW and Impact after Anthem’s purchase, stemming from bad blood between NJPW and Impact following TNA’s handling of Kazuchika Okada’s excursion years earlier.
Impact and NJPW began working together again in 2020, and talks about NJPW returning to AXS date back as far as February 2021. NJPW reportedly was in search of a bigger television partner in the US. In the interim, their weekly show aired on Roku Channel. The Roku deal is reportedly not exclusive, so the new AXS agreement does not necessarily signal the end of that deal.
NJPW has had talks with AXS TV about a possible return to the channel.
In this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer wrote that there have been significant talks regarding New Japan returning to AXS TV. AXS has been wanting the programming back. There is no deal currently, but according to Meltzer, “the talks are enough to where the odds are considered decent a deal ends up being reached”.
NJPW originally aired on AXS TV from 2014-2019, but ended their run once Anthem purchased AXS TV in the fall of 2019. NJPW recently announced a new deal with The Roku Channel, where they started airing content on February 11.
Impact and NJPW have been working together more in recent months. Chris Bey represented Impact during the 2020 Super J Cup tournament in December. Additionally, David Finlay and Juice Robinson made their debut for Impact this past Tuesday, defeating Reno Scum. After the match, they confronted the current Impact Tag Team champions, Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows.
A new weekly series from Impact Wrestling is premiering on AXS TV next week.
“Before The Impact” will debut on AXS TV at 7 p.m. Eastern time next Tuesday (February 16) and will air weekly in that time slot leading into new episodes of Impact. Before The Impact will be hosted by Nashville sportscaster Jon Burton and Impact Wrestling’s Gia Miller and Josh Mathews.
“BTI will feature in-depth previews of the biggest matches, exclusive interviews with IMPACT Wrestling stars, behind-the-scenes access you won’t see anywhere else and an exclusive match each week,” Mathews said in a press release.
Mathews will also serve as a senior producer for Before The Impact. Last month, Mathews departed the Impact commentary team and was promoted to senior producer for Impact Wrestling programming.
Team XXXL vs. The Decay will be the exclusive match on next Tuesday’s premiere episode of Before The Impact.
“BEFORE THE IMPACT will be IMPACT Wrestling’s version of a pregame show,” Impact Wrestling Executive Vice President Scott D’Amore said. “Fans have been asking for more IMPACT action on AXS TV and we’re excited to debut a new show and format with BTI.”
It was noted that Before The Impact will also feature an “Iceman’s Intel” segment with “exclusive news on the pro-wrestling industry from insider George Iceman.”
“Impact in 60” also airs on AXS TV at 10 p.m. Eastern on Tuesdays and highlights past Impact Wrestling/TNA footage.
To promote this year’s Bound for Glory pay-per-view, “Impact Week” is coming to AXS TV in October.
The Bound for Glory go-home episode of Impact will air at 8 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday, October 20. Immediately after that, Talk’n Shop: Full Keg with The Good Brothers will air on AXS TV at 10 p.m. Eastern. It will be a special broadcast edition of Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows’ podcast.
“Join The Good Brothers as they hang out with their closest friends and welcome a few surprise guests to the special,” AXS TV wrote in a press release.
A documentary called This is Bound for Glory will premiere on AXS TV at 8 p.m. Eastern on Thursday, October 22. The documentary will also replay at 6 p.m. Eastern on Saturday, October 24. It will preview this year’s Bound for Glory PPV by going behind-the-scenes with Impact’s champions and challengers. That will include previewing Eric Young vs. Rich Swann for the Impact World Championship and Deonna Purrazzo vs. Kylie Rae for the Knockouts Championship.
Bound for Glory will begin on PPV at 8 p.m. Eastern on October 24. Leading into that, there will be a pre-show called Live Countdown to Glory on AXS TV starting at 7 p.m. Eastern. Panelists will discuss the matches for Bound for Glory, there will be a red carpet, and in-ring action will begin with the first match of the night. AXS TV hyped that there will also be more surprises for Live Countdown to Glory that are to be announced.
“IMPACT Week on AXS TV demonstrates the strength of the individual Anthem brands coming together organically under our Anthem Sports & Entertainment banner,” AXS TV General Manager Frank Tanki said. “This first year of IMPACT! on AXS TV proved that IMPACT has some of the most passionate and loyal fans in the world, and we wanted to deliver to them in a big way as we continue to grow the IMPACT brand. We worked across Anthem to create a week on AXS TV focused on providing the ultimate preview of this huge PPV event. And in addition to serving IMPACT’s fans, we are working to deliver to our affiliates and sponsors as well.”
“Thanks to AXS TV’s powerful broadcast platform, IMPACT Wrestling will deliver an unprecedented level of content heading into Bound For Glory,” IMPACT Wrestling Executive Vice President Scott D’Amore said. “IMPACT Week on AXS TV offers an incredible slate of action and entertainment, showcasing the best IMPACT has to offer. From the unpredictable and always hilarious Good Brothers, to inspiring championship profile features, there’s something for every wrestling fan to get ready for Saturday night.”
A new series focusing on past Impact Wrestling/TNA content is coming to AXS TV next month.
AXS TV announced today that “Impact in 60” will premiere on Tuesday, June 2 at 10 p.m. Eastern time/7 p.m. Pacific time, which is immediately after Impact airs. Impact in 60 “chronicles the promotion’s celebrated 18-year history under the IMPACT and TNA: Total Nonstop Action banners. Headlined by some of the greatest champions to enter the ring, each episode features a collection of full matches showcasing a different wrestler, championships, factions or match types.”
“Thanks to the tremendous feedback from fans of IMPACT on AXS TV and the success of our first TNA television special, we are taking a great step forward to bolster the IMPACT Wrestling Tuesday night block,” IMPACT executive vice president Scott D’Amore said in a press release. “From the thousands of hours of thrilling action in our library, we created IMPACT in 60 to celebrate the legacy of the incredible performers who have competed for us and provide a fun trip down memory lane for the TNA faithful.”
The Best of the Asylum Years will be the debut episode of Impact in 60. It will feature matches with AJ Styles, Raven, and more.
AXS TV also announced details for the other June episodes of Impact in 60:
The June schedule also includes a look at the revolutionary high-flying X-Division Championship featuring Jay Lethal and Christopher Daniels (June 9), the greatest IMPACT World Heavyweight Title matches with Kurt Angle and Austin Aries (June 16), the legendary stable Aces & Eights including the show-stopping Bully Ray vs. Jeff Hardy match (June 23), and wrestling legend Mick Foley’s most epic battles against Sting, Samoa Joe and more (June 30).
Impact Wrestling has announced the lineup for their TNA special that will be airing on AXS TV next week.
The one-hour special is airing at 10 p.m. Eastern time next Tuesday (March 31), which is right after next week’s regular Impact episode. The special was supposed to come in advance of TNA: There’s No Place Like Home taking place in Tampa on Friday, April 3, but that show and all WrestleCon events have been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Rhino vs. Madman Fulton, Hernandez vs. Chase Stevens, and Kid Kash & Johnny Swinger vs. Suicide & Manik will air on next week’s special. Scott Steiner will also appear “with a live microphone in hand, to offer his honest, unfiltered thoughts on the latest in-ring happenings, as the wrestling legend presents a special segment of Scott Steiner Uncensored.”
These matches were filmed during Impact’s television tapings in Atlanta earlier this month.
David Penzer and Scott D’Amore are the commentary team for the special.
Five years after their relationship began, New Japan Pro Wrestling and AXS TV will go their separate ways starting in 2020.
NJPW tweeted Friday they have no further plans to broadcast matches, including Wrestle Kingdom, in the U.S. outside their New Japan World streaming service. AXS confirmed NJPW will no longer air on their network.
The two sides came together on a deal in late-2014 for 13 episodes of their World Pro Wrestling show that previously aired on TV Asahi with Mauro Ranallo (later Jim Ross) and Josh Barnett doing the English commentary. The viewership was so strong that they extended their deal for several years and extended to re-broadcasts of big events and some live shows as well.
With availability in 50 million homes, the American TV version was a key driver in NJPW’s increased popularity stateside where they have increased touring in recent years and will continue to do so in 2020.
In September, a majority interest in AXS was purchased by Anthem Sports & Entertainment, the parent company of Impact Wrestling who is expected to get the focus now that NJPW is gone. AXS has also aired Women of Wrestling, a group that features Tessa Blanchard, since January of 2019.
A World Championship rematch is set for the first official episode of Impact on AXS TV.
Impact Wrestling has announced that Brian Cage will defend his World title against Sami Callihan in a steel cage match on next Tuesday’s Impact. It’s a rematch from the main event of Bound for Glory. The pay-per-view match had a no disqualification stipulation but wasn’t in a steel cage.
Cage retained his title against Callihan at Sunday’s PPV, with the rematch being set up by an angle on last night’s This is Impact special. Callihan threatened Cage’s family until Cage agreed to give him another title shot next week.
Naomichi Marufuji vs. Josh Alexander, a grudge match between Ace Austin and Eddie Edwards, and a segment where Ken Shamrock will address his future after losing to Moose at Bound for Glory have also been announced for next week’s Impact.
Starting next week, Impact will air on AXS TV and Twitch from 8-10 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesdays.
Beginning in late-October, Impact Wrestling will air Tuesdays at 8 PM Eastern on AXS TV.
Impact will debut in the time slot starting on Tuesday, October 22nd with a preview special with Tuesday, October 29th as their official launch date. The preview special will recap the October 20th Bound For Glory pay-per-view, preview the weekly series, as well as air non-televised matches from BFG.
The show will remain at two hours.
AXS, home to New Japan Pro Wrestling and Women of Wrestling, will run Homecoming (October 1st), Rebellion (October 8th), and Slammiversary (October 15th) in their entirety in the weeks leading up to the preview special.
Since the company’s creation in 2002 as NWA-TNA Wrestling as a PPV-only venture, they have aired on Fox Sports Net, Spike TV, Destination America, POP TV, the Pursuit Channel, and Twitch. AXS will be the exclusive United States broadcast arm.
in early-September, Impact parent company Anthem Sports & Entertainment acquired a majority stake in HDNet, the parent company of AXS TV, and announced shortly thereafter that Impact would be moving to AXS.
Lucha Libre AAA’s Invading NY event is set to air on AXS TV later this week.
AXS TV announced today that Invading NY will premiere on the channel at 8 p.m. Eastern time this Friday (September 20). Impact partnered with AAA to promote the show, which took place at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City last night and aired live on pay-per-view and Fite TV.
The show featured the United States in-ring debut of Cain Velasquez as a professional wrestler, with him teaming with Psycho Clown & Brian Cage against Texano Jr., Taurus & Rey Escorpion. Velasquez had his first match at Triplemania XXVII in Mexico last month.
Invading NY also featured Blue Demon Jr. vs. Dr. Wagner Jr., The Lucha Brothers (Pentagon Jr. & Fenix) vs. LAX (Santana & Ortiz) for the AAA Tag Team titles, Tessa Blanchard vs. Taya Valkyrie for the Reina de Reinas Championship, Puma King vs. Flamita vs. Aerostar vs. Daga, Team Impact (Michael Elgin, Josh Alexander & Sami Callihan) vs. Team AAA (Murder Clown, Drago & Faby Apache), and Chris Dickinson & Mascarita Dorada vs. Dave the Clown & Demus.
Last week, it was announced that Anthem Sports & Entertainment (the parent company of Impact Wrestling) had acquired a majority interest in HD Net LLC (the parent of AXS TV and HDNet Movies). Impact will begin airing on AXS TV after next month’s Bound for Glory pay-per-view.
Dave Meltzer wrote about AAA and Impact partnering together for Invading NY: “The reason is that AAA didn’t have a license to promote in New York, so they asked for a local promotion, ended up asking Impact, which has run there many times, and Impact wanted to be part of the branding in exchange for using their license.”
The Forum in Inglewood, California will host AAA Invading LA on Sunday, October 13. Velasquez will also be in action at that event.
Impact Wrestling has officially confirmed its upcoming move to AXS TV.
In a press release that was issued this morning, Impact announced that it has “entered into an agreement to broadcast its flagship weekly two-hour program IMPACT! nationally across the U.S. on AXS TV.”
“Immediately following IMPACT Wrestling’s biggest pay-per-view event of the year Bound For Glory, which takes place on Oct. 20 in Chicago, IMPACT! will begin airing weekly on AXS TV,” the press release announced. “The program will continue to simulcast globally on IMPACT Wrestling’s official Twitch channel.”
The day of the week and time slot that Impact will be airing in on AXS TV have yet to be revealed. The show currently airs at 10 p.m. Eastern time on Fridays on the Pursuit Channel and Twitch.
“IMPACT Wrestling is a perfect fit for AXS TV’s slate of live sporting events and combat sports content,” Anthem Sports & Entertainment Chief Corporate Officer and Impact Wrestling president Ed Nordholm said. “The newest addition to our growing portfolio of media assets, AXS TV’s audience perfectly aligns with our passionate IMPACT Wrestling fan base, and this move increases the reach for our weekly program with distribution in over 50 million homes. We could not ask for a better home and are excited by the opportunities to work with Mark Cuban and Anschutz Entertainment Group, our partners in AXS TV, to bolster IMPACT Wrestling’s presence in the market, as we continue to deliver action-packed and innovative weekly programming featuring some of the most athletic and gifted stars in the professional wrestling industry.”
It was announced earlier this week that Anthem Sports & Entertainment (the parent company of Impact Wrestling) has acquired a majority interest in HDNet LLC (the parent of AXS TV and HDNet Movies) and is assuming operating management of the channels.
New Japan Pro Wrestling and Women of Wrestling both air on AXS TV on Saturday nights.
“Anthem has been public that it has not made any decisions regarding current programming,” Nordholm said in a statement. “We have been long-time broadcast partners with TV Asahi for NJPW at Fight Network and hope to build on that relationship. We are in the middle of a season with WOW and about to tape another series of episodes next week, so no reason to make any decisions there in the short term. We’re looking forward to getting to know them better.”
Impact Wrestling’s parent company has finalized a deal that is expected to lead to a new television home for the promotion in the near future.
In a press release that was issued today, it was announced that Anthem Sports & Entertainment (Impact’s parent company) has acquired a majority interest in HDNet LLC, which is the parent of AXS TV and HDNet Movies.
Anthem “will assume operating management of the two popular channels that cater to music, sports, entertainment and lifestyle audiences. The deal also includes AXS TV’s extensive library of owned programming, including wrestling, MMA and entertainment content.”
New Japan Pro Wrestling and Women of Wrestling both air on AXS TV on Saturdays. Season two of WOW premiered on AXS TV this past weekend.
“We are very excited to add these two successful channels to our portfolio,” Anthem Sports & Entertainment CEO Leonard Asper said. “Anthem was founded with a mission to deliver compelling, targeted content and experiences to passionate fans globally on the platform of their choice. The music, sports and entertainment communities served by these channels are a natural extension and perfect complement to our existing properties. The addition of AXS TV and HDNet Movies will allow for increased content ownership, digital expansion and even more compelling programming for consumers and our distribution partners.”
The press release stated that “Mark Cuban and AEG will continue to participate as equity partners, and AEG Global Partnerships, AEG’s advertising and sponsorship sales unit, will continue to support the channels in conjunction with Anthem’s sales team.”
“Anthem’s combination of targeted brands, enthusiastic audiences, operational expertise, international footprint and vision makes them an ideal partner to take AXS TV and HDNet Movies to their next levels,” Cuban said. “Given Anthem’s portfolio of premium content and complementary programming networks, we could not ask for a better home, and we are looking forward to the results we will collectively generate for this new partnership.”
Steve Harvey is joining Anthem as an investor and is entering into an agreement for content development and promotion of Anthem’s portfolio. Harvey’s Steve Harvey Global will have a seat on Anthem’s board of directors.
Dave Meltzer had reported last week that talks of Impact going to AXS TV were said to still be quite active.
Impact currently airs at 10 p.m. Eastern time on both the Pursuit Channel and Twitch. Anthem also has an ownership stake in the Pursuit Channel.
AXS TV officials have confirmed to the Wrestling Observer that Jon Moxley’s first match since leaving WWE, where he faces Juice Robinson for the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship at the Best of the Super Juniors finals, will air on the network on a two-day tape delay.
Moxley vs. Robinson is scheduled for Wednesday, June 5 at Sumo Hall in Tokyo. It will air in AXS TV’s regular New Japan 8 p.m. Friday night slot on June 7.
Moxley, who was the mystery man being built up for a few weeks on New Japan shows as Robinson’s opponent, was revealed right after Double or Nothing. It was later announced that Moxley will have other matches with New Japan as well as several matches for Northeast Wrestling over the summer.
At this point Moxley’s other NJPW matches haven’t been announced. He will be able to work some dates with New Japan even after AEW starts on weekly television but AEW will have first dibs on his dates.
Moxley will next appear for AEW at Fyter Fest on June 29 in Daytona Beach.
AEW officials have also confirmed Chris Jericho will be wrestling on Fight for the Fallen on July 13 in Jacksonville.
Tony Khan of AEW when noting that Moxley, the former Dean Ambrose, real name Jonathan Good, had signed a multi-year contract with the promotion, said after Double or Nothing that he would be working international dates and some independent dates.
Moxley’s first known U.S. independent date will be against Darby Allin on June 14 in Waterbury, Connecticut for Northeast Wrestling. He will also appear on June 15 in Jackson, New Jersey for the promotion at Six Flags. His major match with Pentagon Jr. will be on August 16 in Poughkeepsie, New York on a show that also includes Fenix, Dustin Rhodes, LA Park, and Jerry Lawler.
Moxley also has NEW dates on August 17 in Norwich, Connecticut and August 18 in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Khan said that Moxley would be a regular with the promotion once they started television. It is believed he will only be working U.S. independent dates until AEW starts television, but would work New Japan big shows.
