Changes are coming to Impact Wrestling that the company hopes will set them up for success this year and in the future.
PWInsider reported on Monday that an all-hands meeting with talent was held Monday prior to their Toronto TV taping to go over what’s to come in the months ahead and why.
State of the art technology
According to the report, Impact’s production facilities will experience “massive upgrades” to their technology starting this fall that will improve both their weekly TV and for their streaming specials and pay-per-views. A renovation of their Skyway Studios location in Nashville, Tennessee, will be part of those changes.
Fewer dates for 2023
After October’s Bound for Glory weekend, Impact will reduce their TV taping dates for the rest of 2023 due to the production upgrades.
Currently, the company traditionally holds tapings the day after a PPV/streaming special in addition to two taping days on random weekends throughout the year.
Following the post-Bound for Glory TV taping in October, the company has no announced domestic dates on the calendar but will be heading to the UK for a four-date tour in late-October. It’s expected the action from those shows will make up a considerable amount of TV afterward.
Final Resolution and Hard to Kill confirmed, AAA joint show coming
Talent was informed Impact will hold a joint show with AAA in November that will also find its way to Impact on AXS TV. They also confirmed another IPWF Throwback Throwdown streaming special for Saturday, November 11th and their Final Resolution pay-per-view for Saturday, December 11th. Both of those events will take place at Santino Marella’s Battle Arts Academy in Toronto.
They also told talent that their annual January PPV Hard to Kill is returning to Las Vegas but not at Sam’s Town, which is nearly 30 minutes outside downtown, but at a venue directly on the Las Vegas strip. The date and location was not disclosed.
The report indicated that because of the reduction of dates, less talent will be used and Impact’s parent company “Anthem will be paying day rate talent for extra days through the remainder of the year to help offset their missing dates.”
The report stated no releases as planned and that Impact expects to move back to using a full roster again in 2024.
Mickie James’ Last Rodeo came to an end at Impact Hard to Kill, but not in the way many expected as she defeated Jordynne Grace in the main event to regain the Knockouts title.
In the match’s latter stages, James fought out of two rear naked choke attempts including one where it looked like she tapped out. Grace had her in a fireman’s carry, but James escaped and dodged a Grace charge into the corner. She then hit her tornado DDT to get the pin and win.
James is now a five-time Knockouts Champion with this marking her first reign since March 2022. She had begun this Last Rodeo run last year, saying she wanted to regain the title but would retire if she lost before that happened.
After the win, James’ family, sans husband and former Impact star Nick Aldis, celebrated in the ring with her.
Impact Hard to Kill saw several returns and debuts which included former WWE star Santino Marella.
Teased on Thursday, Marella made his return to Impact after nearly five years as the company’s new Director of Authority. He temporarily replaces Scott D’Amore who was taken out by Bully Ray last Thursday and is injured in storyline.
In December, it was revealed that Impact filed a trademark for the Santino Marella name.
He made his presence felt during Friday’s Digital Media title match between champion Joe Hendry and Moose, restarting the match after Moose cheated to win the title. Hendry then hit his Standing Ovation finisher to get the pin and retain the title.
Marella appeared at 2017’s Bound for Glory and began hosting a Twitch show for the company. He cornered a BattleArts wrestler of his during a 2018 taping and was a guest commentator at last year’s Sacrifice for the title match between then-Impact World Champion Moose and Heath.
Regardless of who wins in the main event, the Knockouts Champion already has her next challenger in Masha Slamovich.
Slamovich survived a four-way Friday that included former champions Taylor Wilde and Deonna Purrazzo in addition to Killer Kelly.
If it’s Jordynne Grace, she and Slamovich had a rivalry last year that saw Grace retain the title at October’s Bound for Glory and again at November’s Over Drive in a Last Knockout Standing match. If it’s James, it would be their first-ever meeting.
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While they do have streaming specials on Impact Plus the next two months, Impact announced they will return to pay-per-view on Sunday, April 16th in Toronto, Canada.
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PCO made his return Friday, attacking Eddie Edwards after his victory over Jonathan Gresham. The two were members of Honor No More before Edwards attacked him as the group broke up.
Former X-Division and Tag Team Champion Frankie Kazarian made his return to Impact Wrestling during Friday’s Hard to Kill and for a longer run than last time around, announcing he signed a “long-term” deal with the company earlier in the day.
While not mentioning AEW by name, Kazarian cut a promo, saying that after his brief return to Impact last year, he went back to where he was and was surrounded by strangers who he thought were his friends and something didn’t seem right.
He said he didn’t like complacency and realized he had to make a decision to either just sit idly by or bet on himself and walk away, then revealing he signed a deal.
After re-signing with AEW in January 2022, he requested and was granted his release following his November match against Impact World Champion Josh Alexander at Over Drive, according to PWInsider.
“We are told it was a completely amicable situation based around Kazarian wanting to push himself harder as he’s getting closer to to the latter point of his career and that in Impact, he had a chance to be more in the mix than he’d likely be able to get the opportunity to do in AEW, given how massive that company’s roster is,” the report read.
“The word backstage at the PPV is that Kazarian pretty much told the truth about what happened,” it continued, adding he would be welcomed back to AEW anytime.
After seven years away, Kazarian returned to Impact in 2021 for a trios match and then again in 2022 for a late-spring run followed by a fall run that included an X-Division title win over “Speedball” Mike Bailey and the aforementioned loss to Alexander.
He is a six-time X-Division Champion and three-time Impact Tag Team Champion along with Christopher Daniels.
The 45-year-old last wrestled for AEW in December in a loss to Konosuke Takeshita, snapping a five-match win streak on the Dark/Dark: Elevation shows. His last TV appearance was in June’s Royal Rampage battle royal on AEW Rampage.
While he never won a singles title in AEW, he and Scorpio Sky won the inaugural AEW Tag Team titles in 2019.
For the first time since last October, Impact Wrestling returns to pay-per-view for Hard to Kill — a show that could feature the retirement of a fixture in women’s wrestling.
That fixture is Mickie James whose Last Rodeo personal challenge to win the Knockouts title or retire has come to its finale against champion Jordynne Grace in a title vs. career match.
Impact World Champion Josh Alexander defends the title against Bully Ray in a Full Metal Mayhem match that will open the main card.
Rounding out the title matches: the Motor City Machine Guns defend the Impact Tag Team titles in a four-way, X-Division Champion Trey Miguel defends against Black Taurus, and Digital Media Champion Joe Hendry defends against Moose.
The next contender for the Knockouts title will be determined in a four-way between Masha Slamovich, Taylor Wilde, Deonna Purrazzo and Killer Kelly.
Jonathan Gresham faces rival Eddie Edwards while Steve Maclin battles Rich Swann in a falls count anywhere in Atlanta match.
Our live coverage begins with two pre-show matches at 7:30 PM Eastern.
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Pre-Show —
KUSHIDA defeated Angels, Delirious, Mike Jackson, Mike Bailey and Yuya Uemura in a six-way
KUSHIDA and Uemura were left in the ring after everyone spilled to the outside soon after the bell ringing. KUSHIDA hit a cartwheel into a dropkick on Uemura. Delirious came in and sent Uemura to the floor before Mike Jackson got in the ring with Delirious. Jackson sent Bailey to the floor, and Bailey hit a moonsault onto everyone.
Mike Jackson then, at 73 years old, hit a suicide dive on everyone to the outside of the ring. Angels got back in the ring and went right after Mike Jackson, but Jackson dodged a corner charge and Angels hit the ring post. Jackson then grabbed the arm of Angels and walked the ropes old school style to a great reaction from the crowd.
Jackson walked all around the ring and then hit a crossbody on everyone. Angels hit a vertical suplex on Jackson, but Delirious and Uemura double teamed Angels. Bailey hit a series of kicks on both men, but ate a dropkick from Uemura, who then suplexed KUSHIDA. Bailey went for Ultima weapon on Uemura, but Kenny King ran out and shoved Bailey from the ropes. KUSHIDA then hit a flying armbar on Angels for the submission.
– They replayed the excellent hype video for Josh Alexander and Bully Ray.
X-Division Champion Trey Miguel defeated Black Taurus to retain
Fantastic match. I am not sure why this was on the preshow, but it was truly awesome. Both guys worked very hard, and while I want Taurus to win that title eventually, the cheating victory sets up potential future matches for Taurus.
Miguel attacked Taurus with speed, doding a flying knee and sending Taurus to the floor. Miguel went for a hurricanrana off the top rope to the floor, but Taurus caught him. It didn’t help much though as Taurus was sent into the ring post. Taurus blocked a meteora and Miguel blocked destination hellhole.
Taurus went for a pop-up Samoan drop, but in midair, Miguel countered into a crucifix driver. Miguel went to the entrance ramp and ran towards the ring, trying to launch in with a springboard giro dive, but Taurus caught him in midair and hit a Samoan drop. Miguel hit a double stomp and yelled at the crowd, but Taurus nailed a series of clotheslines and then hit a pounce that turned Miguel inside out.
Taurus hit a torture rack into a back breaker like Bane did to Batman in the Knightfall comic book arc, and it looked brutal. Taurus got dumped to the floor after charging Miguel. Miguel, the heel, then asked the crowd to cheer. Oops. Miguel did a tope con giro, but Taurus caught him and went for a powerbomb, but Miguel floated over into a code red on the floor. That was incredible. Miguel hit the meteora, but Taurus kicked out.
Taurus and Miguel shuffled for footing on the top ropes, but Taurus got ahead and hit an avalanche gorilla press into the ring, which was incredible. Miguel dodged destination hellhole and hit a cross Rhodes, but the official caught Miguel with his feet on the ropes. Miguel grabbed a can of spray paint from under the ring. Miguel gave the paint to the referee and then pulled a second can from his tights to spray into Taurus’ face before hitting the lightning spiral for the win.
Main Card —
The main card of Impact Hard to Kill opened with a 10 bell salute to Don West while all the wrestlers and staff were on the stage and the fans chanted for Don West. This was beautiful.
Impact World Champion Josh Alexander defeated Bully Ray in a Full Metal Mayhem match to retain the title
This match was all smoke and mirrors, quite overbooked, but it was a good match, nonetheless. This ended exactly as it should have, but the ankle lock while choking Ray with the chain was a better finishing spot. They could have had Jade Chung hand him the chain and then they could transition to that. Still, good match and way better then it would have been if it was just a straight match.
Bully Ray came out first but ran back up the ramp to hide as Josh Alexander came out. Ray ran in behind Alexander and hit him with a chain to the back of the head. The crowd was not pleased with this and booed Ray as he posed with the title. The announcers told us that the only way to win was pinfall or submission, but Full Metal Mayhem is supposed to be a ladder match, as this is Impact’s version of a TLC. That is weird.
Alexander was busted open before the bell even rang, but he told them to ring the bell. Ray immediately powerbombed Alexander through a table for a 2-count. Ray kept going after the wound of Alexander to try and open the wound further. Ray grabbed a cheese grater but ate a punch from Alexander, who then grabbed the grater and punched it right into Bully Ray’s face.
Ray came up bleeding after that as Alexander cleared the table from the ring and added other weapons to the match. Alexander grabbed the cheese grater used it on the face of Ray. Alexander dug under the ring and pulled out a bag of thumbtacks. Ray looked on in shock at Alexander, thinking he underestimated Alexander.
Alexander nailed Ray with a chair on the ramp as Ray ran away from the thumbtacks. Alexander put Ray on a table and climbed a ladder that was on the ramp. Ray stood up and shoved the ladder over and Alexander crashed into the ring and onto the thumbtacks. Ray came into the ring and tried to hit a bully bomb into the tacks, but Alexander countered it hit a rolling fireman’s carry on Ray. Alexander hit a flying knee with a chain wrapped around his knee before locking Ray in the ankle lock while Ray was face down in the tacks.
Alexander wrapped the chain around Ray’s throat and pulled back while holding the ankle lock, but Jason Hotch and John Skylar saved Ray and they hit a 3D into the tacks. Ray got Hotch and Skylar to get tables and zip tied Alexander to the ropes. Tommy Dreamer made his way down the ramp and took out Hotch and Skylar.
Dreamer and Ray faced off, and it looked like Dreamer was going to turn on Alexander by siding with Ray. Dreamer, instead, smashed a trashcan into Ray’s head. Ray then speared Dreamer through a table. Ray grabbed the trashcan and smashed it into the face of the defenseless Alexander, who refused to give up. Jade Chung, Josh’s wife, ran down to the ring and came face to face with Ray.
Ray told her to beg him for mercy. Ray demanded she take her wedding ring off and give it to him, but she low blowed Bully Ray and then hit a cutter after running up the ropes. She then cut the ties off Alexander’s arms and she threw a chair into the arms of Bully Ray before Alexander smashed a chair into the chair that Ray was holding. Alexander and Chung put Ray on a table and Alexander hit a frog splash off the ladder through a table on Ray kicked out, but Alexander immediately locked on an ankle lock and forced the tapout. Jade Chung and Alexander celebrated after the match in the wreckage of tables and weapons all over the ring, and Bully Ray in the middle of it all, bleeding and beaten.
–Mickie James was with Victoria backstage, and she was hyping James up saying that she was going to kill it tonight. Raven showed up and said he wanted to be a part of it tonight too, because he was there for the beginning of her career, and if it was the end, he wanted to be there. This was nice.
Impact Tag Team Champion Motor City Machine Guns defeated The Major Players, Bullet Club (Ace Austin & Chris Bey), and Heath & Rhino to retain in an elimination tag team match
It would have been very difficult for this match to be bad, and this one was far from it. Great tag match.
It didn’t take long for this to spill into wild action everywhere, with MCMG and Bey and Austin flying all over the place. The referee was desperately trying to get control as Matt Cardona and Brian Myers took out Bullet Club and then Heath and Rhino took them out. The bell finally rang when Rhino and Myers were in the ring. Cardona and Myers got the heat on Heath in the early part of the match.
Rhino tagged in and hit a belly-to-belly on Cardona, but Myers made the save and Cardona was able to pin Rhino to eliminate him and Heath after a rake to the eyes. Rehwoldt say that it was FriBEY the 18th and that Bullet Club was in ACElanta. Hannifan said, “I want you to know that I hate you,” after the terrible puns.
Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley got involved at that point, double teaming Ace Austin and working over his legs. Myers and Cardona were back in the ring soon thereafter and hit the Fold on Myers to pin him, leaving the match down to MCMG and Bullet Club. Sabin used his usual face paced offence to kick Austin on the floor and hit a sunset flip on Bey. MCMG hit the magic killer for a 2-count.
It’s crazy how fast Sabin and Shelley move, still at this stage in their career, but Bey and Austin may have been slightly faster, hitting the art of finesse on Sabin, but the Major Players pulled Austin from the ring. MCMG and Bullet Club beat on the Major Players, but they definitely cost Bullet Club the match. MCMG hit the dirt bomb for the pinfall to retain their titles.
– Frankie Kazarian came down to ring as they exited, shook hands with MCMG and grabbed a mic. Kazarian said he was faced with a decision recently, and he to question if he wanted to walk away or bet on himself. Kazarian said he bet on himself and signed a long term contract with Impact Wrestling, and the fans chanted “Welcome home!” Kazarian made his intentions known, but he was going to fight to make it to the top. I like this.
Impact Digital Media Champion Joe Hendry defeated Moose to retain
This match was actually pretty great. The finish was a good way to introduce Santino as the director of authority as well.
Before Hendry could talk like he usually did before a match, Moose slapped the mic way. Hendry decided to slap Moose in response and hit a big spinning powerslam. Hendry hit a stalling vertical suplex on Moose, but Moose stood right up and sent Hendry to the floor. Hendry picked Moose up in a stalling vertical suplex and walked around ringside with Moose above his head before dropping down to complete it halfway around the ring. That was cool.
Back in the ring, Moose hit two big dropkicks in the corner on Hendry. Moose gouged at the eyes and nose of Hendry, using cheep tactics to get the heat for the next few minutes. Moose slapped Hendry, but it woke him up, and Hendry put Moose in a fireman’s carry before tossing him stomach first to the floor. That was really impressive.
Hendry hit a massive cutter on Moose that caused Moose to spin on his head on the mat and go straight vertical with only his head on the mat. That was an impressive visual. Moose kicked out and soon hit sky high on Hendry for a 2-count. Hendry shoved Moose off the top rope, but Moose landed on his feet and ran up the ropes and hit a superplex on Hendry. Moose kicked up before the 10 count, and Hendry did the same and the fans popped loudly for both.
Moose blocked a European uppercut and they moved into near fall exchanges. The exchanged ended with Hendry smashing Moose with a lariat that turned him inside out and a popup powerbomb for a 2-count. Hendry went for the standing ovation, but Moose hit a uranage for a 2-count. Moose grabbed the title on the floor and went to attack Hendry with it, but the referee took it away. Moose low blowed Hendry and then hit a spear for the pinfall.
Some wacky music hit, and Santino Marella came out and said he was the new director of authority in Impact Wrestling. Santino called Moose a cheating “some of a gun” and restarted the match, to Moose’s chagrin.
Not long after the bell rang to restart the match, Joe Hendry was able to hit the standing ovation for the pinfall, retaining his title.
– Kenny King was backstage saying that he was chipping away at the reputation of Baile and that he still had the eyebrow of one of his students on his knuckle. King claimed he was going to snuff out the career of Mike Bailey at the pit fight on AXS on Thursday.
Masha Slamovich defeated Deonna Purrazzo, Taylor Wilde and Killer Kelly in a four-way to become the no. 1 contender for the Impact Knockouts title
Slamovich went right after Taylor Wilde and started beating her on the floor, leaving Purrazzo and Kelly in the ring. Purrazzo tried to get away but Wilde sent Purrazzo bac into the ring. As Slamovich and Kelly were brawling on the floor Purrazzo hit baseball slide on both. Taylor Wilde then hit a low-pe dive onto everyone. Purrazzo hit a crossbody to the floor, seemingly crushing Wilde. Slamovich did a flip dive off the top rope, seemingly crushing Wilde again. That had to suck.
Wilde came back in the ring and took it right to Slamovich hitting chops and elbows in the corner. Killer Kelly went for angels wings on Kelly, but Purrazzo countered into a half crab. Wilde and Purrazzo did the half crab on Kelly, but fought over who would get the submission, so they started brawling after letting go of the submission.
Slamovich came in and kicked both women in the face before turning to Killer Kelly. Purrazzo hit a powerbomb on Wilde. Kelley went for the killer clutch on Purrazzo, but Purrazzo countered into an armbar. Wilde was meant to break the submission but accidentally hit Kelly in the face, who just countered Purrazzo’s submission into the killer clutch. Wilde put a crossface on Slamovich, but Slamovich stood up and hit a snowplow on Wilde into everyone to pin Wilde for the win.
– Raven joined the commentary team for this match, and Gia Miller went to interview Rich Swann, but Steve Maclin attacked him and the match started backstage.
Steve Maclin defeated Rich Swann in a falls count anywhere match
This was a good brawl around the arena, but having so many weapons matches so far on the show kind of diminishes the impact (no pun intended) of having it in this match as I’ve already seen it all. That said, this was still good, and Maclin winning and moving on to face Josh Alexander is the right move.
The audio was incredible messed up on the broadcast while the wrestlers were backstage, with everything being quiet with lots of echoes. The brawled all over the place, fighting out into the street, and almost getting hit by a car trying to leave the arena. Raven said “I hope someone gets hit by a car!” Raven was quite funny in this match, looking more to amuse himself on commentary.
Both men brawled to ringside, and Maclin smashed Swann with a chair to the face, which, thankfully, Swann got his hands up for. Raven chuckled with joy at Swann crashing onto the ramp for a 2-count. He then said, “It amuses me. I like violence.” Swann hit a kick that sent Maclin crashing to the floor, leading Swann to hit a frog splash to the floor. Maclin hit a running powerbomb on Swann on the floor for a 2-count. Maclin was able to hit KIA on one of the ramps exiting the stage area for the pinfall.
Eddie Edwards defeated Jonathan Gresham
This match was awesome. Edwards and Gresham are both so good, and this was a full blown Pro Wrestling NOAH style match with hard hitting action. I loved it.
Edwards wanted to brawl with Gresham but every time he tried, Gresham was able to escape. Edwards did eventually start hitting hard chops that put Gresham in trouble, but Gresham was able to get out of the corner, hitting some arm drags and kicking the arm of Edwards. Edwards worked over Gresham with cheaper tactics, violating the pure wrestling that Gresham likes, choking him against the ropes.
Gresham and Edwards started slapping each other, but Gresham face-planted after a strike looking like he was knocked out. Gresham managed to get up and hit hard forearms, but every time Edwards chopped him, Gresham would go down and get back up. Soon Gresham was begging for the chops and managed to hit a kick to the injured elbow of Edwards from earlier.
Gresham hit a forearm to the elbow, ate a chop, and continued to attack the arm. Edwards tried to get out of it with chops, but Gresham maintained wrist control and continued to attack the arm. Gresham popped up after a chop with an enziguri before stomping the arm and getting a nearfall with a crucifix.
Gresham hit a tilt-a-whirl bulldog for a 2-count. Gresham hit another stomp to the arm and a suicide dive before going to the top turnbuckle. Edwards was able to hit an enziguri on Gresham, stopping whatever he had planned. Edwards countered a rear naked choke from Gresham by causing Gresham to crash face first into the turnbuckle before missing a Boston knee party, but hitting a powerbomb for a 2-count. Edwards hit a tiger driver and then the Boston knee party for the win.
– The lights went out after the match and PCO made his return to Impact, spitting dirt out of his mouth and hitting Edwards with a chokeslam. Apparently he woke up in the desert, walked to Atlanta from Las Vegas with the sand in his mouth and the shovel Edwards buried him with. You might say PCO was… Hard to Kill. I’ll see myself out.
Mickie James defeated Jordynne Grace to win the Impact Knockouts title in a title vs. career match
Mickie James’ Last Rodeo has ended with James saying she would retire if she couldn’t win the Knockouts title, and it had a happy ending with James actually winning the title. Mickie James is not ready to retire just yet, and she is still producing matches at a very high level. This was fantastic, and having James’ family and friends (minus Nick Aldis, who I assume was backstage) celebrating with her.
Mickie James had a spectacular entrance with her indigenous roots honoured. James tried to hit a sunset flip early, and Grace didn’t even budge, showing her strength. James slapped Grace several times, so Grace smashed her with a shot of her own which dropped James. James and Grace exchanged chops.
Eventually, Grace’s power was able to overwhelm James as she stomped in the corner. Grace smashed James into the turnbuckle and went for knees to her face, but James dodged and went to the top rope. Grace followed, but James cut her off and hit a bulldog from the top rope. James got wrist control and walked the ropes before hitting a Thesz press on the ramp.
James went for the MickDT but Grace didn’t let it happen, so James tried a guillotine, but Grace just walked across the ring and planted James on the top rope before hitting a deadlift superplex and a jackhammer for a 2-count. James was determined to win, running at Grace, but Grace hit a huge spinebuster for a 2-count.
Grace went for a tombstone, but James countered into a head scissors for a 2-count. James and Grace went into a series of near falls, ending when Grace hit a spinning backfist. Grace went for the Grace driver, but James countered and hit a Mick Kick before hitting the MickDT. The crowd went insane and reacted in shock when Grace barely kicked out at 2. This was an awesome near fall.
James went for the MickDT again, but Grace blocked it. James hit an O’Connor roll, but Grace turned it into a rear naked choke, but she rolled backwards into a nearfall. Grace got right up and went for the choke again. Grace pulled James away from the ropes and looked to be going unconscious, but James woke up and twisted out of it.
Grace drove James headfirst into the turnbuckle from a fireman’s carry, but James grabbed the ropes and pulled off before sending Grace crashing into the ringpost after a corner charge. James followed this up with a tornado DDT and scored the pinfall. This match was awesome.
Final Thoughts:
This was a perfect ending to a very good PPV. Mickie James and Jordynne Grace closing the show made perfect sense, as it was easily the best feud heading into it, and the storyline has been consistently interesting as James tried to crawl her way back to the top of the Knockouts division.
It gave fans logical progression week by week as she beat people in matches, with heels wanting to end the career, and babyfaces happy to get the chance to wrestle her, on what seemed to be her farewell tour, but it is not over yet. Wonderful ending to a great show. Giant thumbs up, and I am so happy they put the title on James and gave us a happy ending.
Not only is the card set for Friday’s Impact Hard to Kill, but both the main card opener and the main event are confirmed as well.
Announced on Thursday’s Impact on AXS TV, the title vs. career match between Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace and Mickie James will main event the show.
Friday will mark what could be the “Final Rodeo” for James as she has aptly named this recent quest of hers to regain the Knockouts title or retire with a loss. That brings her to the reigning champion in Grace who will be gunning to keep the title she won last June.
Impact also announced that the Full Metal Mayhem match between World Champion Josh Alexander and Bully Ray will open the PPV main card at 8 PM Eastern.
In one final development for the show, Gail Kim said there will be a temporary replacement authority figure for Scott D’Amore that will make their identity known Friday. D’Amore was taken out by the aforementioned Bully Ray last week and put through a table.
Here’s the full lineup for the sold-out show from Atlanta, Georgia:
Impact World Champion Josh Alexander defends against Bully Ray in a Full Metal Mayhem match
Impact Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace defends against Mickie James in a title vs. career match
Impact Tag Team Champions Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) defend against The Major Players (Matt Cardona & Brian Myers), Bullet Club (Chris Bey & Ace Austin), and Heath & Rhino in an elimination match
Impact X-Division Champion Trey Miguel defends against Black Taurus
Impact Digital Media Champion Joe Hendry defends against Moose
Jonathan Gresham vs. Eddie Edwards
Steve Maclin vs. Rich Swann falls count anywhere
Number one contender’s match: Masha Slamovich vs. Taylor Wilde vs. Deonna Purrazzo vs. Killer Kelly
Pre-show: The Death Dollz vs. Tasha Steelz, Gisele Shaw & Savannah Evans
Pre-show: Kushida vs. Mike Bailey vs. Angels vs. Yuya Uemura vs. Bhupinder Gujjar vs. Mike Jackson
The first four matches have been announced for this Saturday’s post-Hard to Kill TV taping for Impact wrestling.
The taping will take place at Center Stage in Atlanta, Georgia — the same venue as Friday’s pay-per-view — with matches beginning to air next Thursday.
Steve Maclin vs. Dirty Dango
Maclin, who will be coming off a falls count anywhere match against Rich Swann at the PPV, will face the returning Dango (fka Fandango). Dango made his promotional debut at last October’s Bound for Glory in a losing effort to then-Digital Media Champion Brian Myers followed by a Before The Impact win over Johnny Swinger.
Major Players (Matt Cardona & Brian Myers) vs. Bullet Club (Ace Austin & Chris Bey)
Both teams will be in Friday’s four-way for the Impact Tag Team titles that includes the Motor City Machine Guns (c) and Heath & Rhino.
Taylor Wilde vs. Killer Kelly
The two will be in Friday’s no. 1 contender four-way for a Knockouts title shot that includes Deonna Purrazzo and Masha Slamovich.
Deonna Purrazzo vs. Ashley D’Amboise
While Purrazzo will be in the aforementioned four-way, this will be the promotional debut for D’Amboise who is a regular indie presence with 20 AEW appearances in the last two years.
The show is also expected to feature the recently announced Pit Fight match between Mike Bailey and Kenny King that is scheduled to air on next Thursday’s Impact.
With one week to go until next Friday’s sold out Hard to Kill pay-per-view in Atlanta, Georgia, Impact Wrestling announced two matches for the pre-show.
One will feature a six-way that includes Kushida, “Speedball” Mike Bailey, Angels, Yuya Uemura, Bhupinder Gujjar and 73-year-old indie veteran Mike Jackson.
Kushida wrestled four times for Impact in the summer of 2022 before returning to NJPW. This will be Jackson’s fourth match in Impact and his first since last June’s reverse battle royale on the Slammiversary pre-show.
The other new match will see current Knockouts Tag Team Champions The Death Dollz (Taya Valkyrie, Rosemary & Jessicka) in trios action against Gisele Shaw, Tasha Steelz and Savannah Evans. Evans and Rosemary will go one-on-on this Thursday.
Here’s the current card for the Friday, January 13th pay-per-view:
Impact World Champion Josh Alexander defends against Bully Ray in a Full Metal Mayhem match
Impact Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace defends against Mickie James in a title vs. career match
Impact Tag Team Champions Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) defend against The Major Players (Matt Cardona & Brian Myers), Bullet Club (Chris Bey & Ace Austin), and Heath & Rhino in an elimination match
Impact X-Division Champion Trey Miguel defends against Black Taurus
Impact Digital Media Champion Joe Hendry defends against Moose
Jonathan Gresham vs. Eddie Edwards
Steve Maclin vs. Rich Swann falls count anywhere
Number one contender’s match: Masha Slamovich vs. Taylor Wilde vs. Deonna Purrazzo vs. Killer Kelly
Pre-show: The Death Dollz vs. Tasha Steelz, Gisele Shaw & Savannah Evans
Pre-show: Kushida vs. Mike Bailey vs. Angels vs. Yuya Uemura vs. Bhupinder Gujjar vs. Mike Jackson
Steve Maclin’s desire for an Impact World title match has taken some unique directions the past few months and next Friday’s Hard to Kill will see another one.
Announced during Thursday’s Impact on AXS, Maclin will face former champion Rich Swann in a falls count anywhere match on the Friday, January 13th pay-per-view in Atlanta, Georgia.
Swann issued the challenge Thursday after their last match ended in a countout:
Impact World Champion Josh Alexander defends against Bully Ray in a Full Metal Mayhem match
Impact Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace defends against Mickie James in a title vs. career match
Impact Tag Team Champions Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) defend against The Major Players (Matt Cardona & Brian Myers), Bullet Club (Chris Bey & Ace Austin), and Heath & Rhino in an elimination match
Impact X-Division Champion Trey Miguel defends against Black Taurus
Impact Digital Media Champion Joe Hendry defends against Moose
Jonathan Gresham vs. Eddie Edwards
Steve Maclin vs. Rich Swann falls count anywhere
Number one contender’s match: Masha Slamovich vs. Taylor Wilde vs. Deonna Purrazzo vs. Killer Kelly
A three-way Knockouts title eliminator match at this month’s Impact Hard to Kill got a big more dangerous Thursday with the addition of a new competitor.
Killer Kelly will now join the match that also includes former champions Deonna Purrazzo and Taylor Wilde in addition to former title challenger Masha Slamovich.
The match is part of the Friday, January 13th pay-per-view in Atlanta, Georgia, and will be Kelly’s first match in the company since November.
In a preview, Slamovich will take on Wilde on Thursday’s Impact on AXS.
Here’s the current lineup for next Friday:
Impact World Champion Josh Alexander defends against Bully Ray in a Full Metal Mayhem match
Impact Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace defends against Mickie James in a title vs. career match
Impact Tag Team Champions Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) defend against The Major Players (Matt Cardona & Brian Myers), Bullet Club (Chris Bey & Ace Austin), and Heath & Rhino in an elimination match
Impact X-Division Champion Trey Miguel defends against Black Taurus
Impact Digital Media Champion Joe Hendry defends against Moose
Jonathan Gresham vs. Eddie Edwards
Number one contender’s match: Masha Slamovich vs. Taylor Wilde vs. Deonna Purrazzo vs. Killer Kelly
After the Motor City Machine Guns won the Impact Tag Team titles last Thursday, their next title defense was set up on this Thursday’s show — and it’s a unique one.
Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin will defend against former champions Heath & Rhino, The Major Players, and recent NJPW Super Junior Tag League finalists Chris Bey & Ace Austin in a four-way elimination match at January’s Hard to Kill.
The match was made Thursday with the Players (Matt Cardona & Brian Myers) and Rhino & Heath both demanding a shot when the champions then emerged from Scott D’Amore’s office to break the news.
In another new title match, X-Division Champion Trey Miguel will defend the title against Black Taurus in a rematch from the title tournament final at November’s Over Drive.
In another new development, the main event between Impact World Champion Josh Alexander and Bully Ray will now be a Full Metal Mayhem match — Impact’s version of a TLC match.
After Alexander was attacked by Bully Ray, Jason Hotch and John Skyler Thursday after a swerve, he went to D’Amore about wanting to not play by the rules and the match was adjusted.
Here’s the updated card for the Friday, January 13th pay-per-view:
Impact World Champion Josh Alexander defends against Bully Ray in a Full Metal Mayhem match
Impact Tag Team Champions Motor City Machine Guns defend against Major Players, Bullet Club, and Heath & Rhino in an elimination match
Impact Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace defends against Mickie James in a title vs. career match
Impact X-Division Champion Trey Miguel defends against Black Taurus
Mickie James will face her toughest test yet as part of her “Last Rodeo” series as she is set to challenge Impact Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace at January’s Hard to Kill.
It will be Grace’s title against James’ career per the self-induced stipulation by James several months ago that her next loss would send her into retirement.
James defeated Deonna Purrazzo in Thursday’s main event on AXS with Grace coming out afterward to congratulate James and offer up a challenge for the title at the January 13th pay-per-view.
James is a four-time Knockouts Champion and has never faced Grace before. Grace will be looking for the seventh defense of the title she won at June’s Slammiversary.
The title match is the second made for the January show from Center Stage in Atlanta, Georgia.
Here’s the current card:
Impact World Champion Josh Alexander defends against Bully Ray
Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace defends against Mickie James in a title vs. career match
The World Championship match is official for Impact Wrestling’s next pay-per-view.
Impact Wrestling has announced that Josh Alexander will defend his Impact World Championship against Bully Ray at Hard to Kill on Friday, January 13, 2023. The match was set up when Bully Ray attacked Alexander at Friday night’s Over Drive special.
The main event of Over Drive saw Alexander successfully defend his title against Frankie Kazarian. Following the match, Bully Ray blindsided Alexander, beat him down with a steel chair, and zip tied his arm to the bottom rope.
Alexander’s wife Jade Chung was in the front row and screamed for Bully Ray to stop the attack. Bully Ray pulled her over the barricade, threatening to piledrive her onto the concrete. Alexander managed to break free, but Bully Ray told him not to move. Bully Ray forced Alexander to give him possession of the Impact World title belt in exchange for not piledriving Chung.
Bully Ray defeated Moose in a tables match earlier in the night at Over Drive.
At October’s Bound for Glory PPV, Bully Ray returned to Impact Wrestling by winning the Call Your Shot gauntlet match. That’s how Bully Ray earned the right to face Alexander at Hard to Kill. During his attack at Over Drive, Bully Ray mocked Alexander for believing that he would keep his word and cash in the title shot honorably.
Alexander has been Impact World Champion since defeating Moose at Rebellion this April.
Hard to Kill is being held at Center Stage in Atlanta.
AEW World champion Kenny Omega pinned Impact World champion Rich Swann during tonight’s Hard to Kill main event.
Omega pinned Swann in a six-man tag team match, with Omega teaming with The Good Brothers (Karl Anderson and Doc Gallow), while Swann teamed with Chris Sabin and Moose. The finish had Swann scoring nearfalls, one following a 450 splash, but Omega ended the match after cutting off Swann and pinning him with the One Winged Angel.
The match was originally scheduled to feature Swann teaming with the Motor City Machine Guns. However, it was announced on Friday that Alex Shelley would not be able to travel to Nashville for the show due to unavoidable circumstances. He said that he did not have COVID-19.
Omega has appeared on Impact Wrestling regularly since winning the AEW World Championship at AEW Winter is Coming on December 2, aligning himself with Impact Executive Vice President Don Callis.
Impact announced before their main event that their next pay-per-view, Rebellion, would take place on April 24.
On Wednesday, Impact Wrestling and AXS TV announced three days of programming that will lead into their January 16th Hard To Kill pay-per-view.
On Tuesday, January 12th, AXS will air this year’s Bound For Glory starting at 4 PM Eastern. The October 24th PPV featured Rich Swann winning the World title, Su Yung winning the Knockouts title, The North winning the Tag Team titles, and a cinematic match between Moose and EC3.
Following that night’s Impact at 10 PM Eastern will be ‘Impact In 60’, a show that “puts the spotlight on some of the most unforgettable matches and moments from across IMPACT’s rich history including those from the past year.”
On Thursday, January 14th, AXS will air ‘Impact Wrestling: This Is Hard To Kill’ at 9 PM Eastern, a countdown-style show featuring several of the talents on the PPV.
On Friday, January 15th, AXS will air back-to-back showings of ‘Bad A$$ Movie Night With The Good Brothers: Kickboxer’ starting at 8 PM Eastern as Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson will do a watchalong of the iconic Jean Claude Van Damme movie.
Finally on Saturday, AXS will air a one hour live red carpet pre-game show called ‘Live Countdown To Hard To Kill’ starting at 7 PM.
Hard To Kill is headlined by AEW World Champion Kenny Omega and Impact Tag Team Champions The Good Brothers vs. Impact World Champion Rich Swann and the Motor City Machine Guns.
