Tag: impact hall of fame

Mike Tenay & Don West to be inducted into Impact Wrestling Hall of Fame

Posted on by Joseph Currier

The voices of TNA/Impact Wrestling are set to take their rightful place in the company’s Hall of Fame.

During Victory Road, it was revealed that Mike Tenay & Don West will be inducted into the Impact Hall of Fame at Bound for Glory this October. The pay-per-view is being held at Cicero Stadium in Cicero, Illinois on Saturday, October 21.

https://twitter.com/IMPACTWRESTLING/status/1700339455322972231

West is being posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame. He passed away in December 2022 following a battle with cancer.

Before becoming a pro wrestling broadcaster, West was already well-known as a sports collectibles pitchman. He and Tenay worked together as announcers from TNA’s launch in 2002 until 2009. Tenay was later paired with Taz on commentary.

Tenay won Best Television Announcer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards in 1997 and from 2002-2005. Tenay’s first win came while he worked for WCW and the other four were while he was in TNA.

The Impact Hall of Fame was introduced in 2012. With Tenay and West’s inclusion, there have been 13 total inductees:

  • 2012: Sting
  • 2013: Kurt Angle
  • 2014: Team 3D (Bully Ray & D-Von)
  • 2015: Jeff Jarrett, Earl Hebner
  • 2016: Gail Kim
  • 2018: Abyss
  • 2020: Ken Shamrock
  • 2021: Awesome Kong
  • 2022: Raven
  • 2023: Mike Tenay & Don West

Raven to be inducted into Impact Wrestling Hall of Fame

Posted on by Josh Nason

Raven will be inducted into this year’s Impact Hall of Fame, announced during Friday’s Victory Road special on Impact Plus.

The ceremony will take place at next month’s Bound for Glory in Albany, New York.

He was a member of the roster from 2003-2007 and then 2009-2010 during the company’s TNA era. During his run, he was a major player, working with the likes of Jeff Hardy, Jeff Jarrett, Christopher Daniels and others. 

He had a short run as NWA World champion in 2005 during the aforementioned TNA era and also created the Clockwork Orange House of Fun match in 2003 — a match that made its way back this year as part of the Sami Callihan vs. Moose feud.

The 58-year-old hasn’t wrestled since 2020.

He will join eight others in their Hall of Fame: Sting (2012), Kurt Angle (2013), Jeff Jarrett (2015), Earl Hebner (2015), Gail Kim (2016), Abyss (2018), Ken Shamrock (2020) and Awesome Kong (2021).

Gail Kim to induct Awesome Kong into Impact Wrestling Hall of Fame

Posted on by Josh Nason

Gail Kim will induct Awesome Kong into the Impact Wrestling Hall of Fame this Saturday at Bound for Glory, announced Thursday on Impact’s weekly TV show.

The ceremony will take place at 9:30 PM Eastern during the Countdown to Glory pre-show that will also see the first-ever Digital Media Champion crowned in a six-way match.

Kong’s induction was initially announced during this month’s Knockouts Knockdown show on Impact Plus. She joins Kim as the only other woman to be inducted.

Kong (Kia Stevens) spent more than six years in TNA/Impact over two stints, winning two Knockouts titles and the Knockouts Tag Team titles as well. She and Kim feuded over the title during both of her runs with their last clash happening in January 2016.

The end of Kong’s career came in AEW where she had a handful of matches in 2019 before what would be her final bout on AEW Dark in January 2020.

In the last few years, she gained notoriety by playing Tamme Dawson on the wrestling-themed Netflix series GLOW that ended after three seasons.

Ken Shamrock Impact HOF induction set for Countdown to Glory

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Impact Wrestling has revealed when Ken Shamrock’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be taking place.

It was announced today that Shamrock will be inducted into the Impact Wrestling Hall of Fame on Countdown to Glory this Saturday. Countdown to Glory is the pre-show for Impact’s Bound for Glory pay-per-view. The pre-show will air live on AXS TV and Impact’s digital channels at 7 p.m. Eastern time, with Bound for Glory then beginning on PPV at 8 p.m. Eastern.

Shamrock being inducted into the Impact Wrestling Hall of Fame over Bound for Glory weekend was first announced this March. Last month, Shamrock reached out to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson on Twitter and asked him to film an introduction greeting for Shamrock’s Hall of Fame ceremony. Johnson responded by congratulating Shamrock and agreeing to film the video.

Shamrock won the NWA World Championship on the first-ever TNA show in 2002. He returned to Impact last year and will be facing Eddie Edwards at Bound for Glory this Saturday.

AXS TV wrote about Countdown to Glory when the pre-show was first announced: “Leading into the Bound For Glory pay-per-view broadcast on Saturday, Oct. 24, AXS TV presents the first-ever, hour-long pre-show Live Countdown to Glory at 7 p.m. ET. The excitement builds as expert panelists weigh-in on all the Bound For Glory championship matches, IMPACT stars walk the red carpet, and IMPACT kicks off the live action with the first match of the night, plus more surprises to be announced.”

The Rock to film greeting for Ken Shamrock’s Impact HOF induction

Posted on by Joseph Currier

It looks like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson will be playing a small role in Ken Shamrock’s Impact Wrestling Hall of Fame induction.

Shamrock sent a tweet to The Rock today asking if The Rock would send an induction greeting for him. The Rock then responded and agreed to do it.

“@TheRock Hey brother I am being Inducted into the Impact Wrestling HOF I would be very grateful if you could send a Induction greeting. After all I believe my time with you was my greatest memories in Wrestling. Thank you,” Shamrock tweeted.

“Congrats, my brother. Awesome news. I will take care of this and get it to you by this weekend,” The Rock wrote in response.

It was announced this March that Shamrock would join Impact Wrestling’s Hall of Fame during Bound for Glory weekend this year. WWE allowed Impact to use some footage of Shamrock’s WWE career for the announcement video package, including Shamrock submitting The Rock to win King of the Ring 1998. This year’s Bound for Glory pay-per-view is taking place on Saturday, October 24.

Shamrock won the NWA World title on the first-ever TNA show in 2002. He returned to Impact Wrestling in 2019.

Shamrock set for Impact HOF, WWE grants footage for video package

Posted on by Joseph Currier

The main event angle on last night’s Impact included the announcement that Ken Shamrock is the newest member of the promotion’s Hall of Fame.

It was hyped that last night’s show would feature a “career announcement” from Shamrock. Josh Mathews revealed that Shamrock will join Impact Wrestling’s Hall of Fame at Bound for Glory later this year.

A video package then played, with it including some footage from Shamrock’s WWE career. It highlighted Shamrock being a former WWF Intercontinental Champion, Tag Team Champion, and submitting The Rock to win the 1998 King of the Ring. The footage said courtesy of WWE on it, and Impact also thanked WWE for it:

WWE has used footage from Impact in a similar fashion previously. Impact’s RVD also appeared on Raw Reunion last July.

The Shamrock segment led to the video being interrupted by the ICU hacker that Impact had been teasing. It was revealed to be Sami Callihan, with Callihan throwing a fireball into Shamrock’s face.

Shamrock, who won the NWA World title on the first-ever TNA show, returned to the promotion last year.

Abyss to be inducted into Impact Wrestling Hall of Fame

Posted on by Bryan Rose

The newest member of the Impact Hall of Fame is none other than the monster himself, Abyss.

It was announced during Impact tonight that Abyss (real name Christopher Park) will be inducted into their Hall of Fame during Bound for Glory weekend. The ceremony will be on October 13th at McHale’s Pub in midtown Manhattan.

“I’m absolutely over whelmed with the response to my upcoming @IMPACTWRESTLING Hall of Fame induction,” he wrote on Twitter following the announcement. “Thank you ALL for your messages. This is one of the highlights of my career. I’m over come with emotion. Thank you to everyone who ever supported me. This is for all of YOU!!”

Abyss made his debut as Prince Justice during the first Impact pay-per-view on June 19, 2002, as part of the Gauntlet for the Gold match to crown a new NWA Worlds Heavyweight champion. He was soon repackaged as Abyss. He is formerly a NWA Worlds Heavyweight champion, as well as a X Division, Television and tag team champion, both under the NWA and Impact banners.

The most recent storyline involving Abyss took place this year when Jimmy Jacobs brought Kongo Kong into Impact Wrestling, labeling him the new monster of the promotion. After Jacobs repeatedly goaded Abyss into making a return, he obliged, bringing back James Mitchell as his manager. He lost to Kong in a Monster’s Ball match and hasn’t appeared on Impact since then.