Impact Wrestling returns to pay-per-view tonight with Homecoming, live from The Asylum in Nashville, Tennessee. Visit FITE.TV to purchase and stream the show for just $39.99. We are running a promotion with FITE.TV where fans can enter a chance to stream Impact Wrestling: Homecoming for free – click here for details.
Here is the final card for Impact Wrestling Homecoming:
Impact World Champion Champion Johnny Impact vs. Brian Cage
Impact Tag Team Champions LAX vs Pentagon Jr. and Rey Fenix
Ultimate X for the Vacant X Division Championship: Jake Crist vs. Ethan Page vs. Rich Swann vs. Trey Miguel
Knockouts Champion Tessa Blanchard vs. Taya Valkyrie
Monster’s Ball: Eli Drake vs Abyss
Falls Count Anywhere: Moose vs. Eddie Edwards
Sami Callihan vs. Willie Mack
Allie and Su Yung vs. Kiera Hogan and Jordynne Grace
Ahead of tonight’s Homecoming PPV, Impact Wrestling has released the video package that will kick off the broadcast.
Impact Wrestling will present Homecoming this Sunday from Nashville, TN. The promotion has released the opening video for the PPV on their YouTube channel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzyc98K-e00
Impact Wrestling Homecoming PPV
2 matches were added to Homecoming this week on Impact. Willie Mack will take on Sami Callihan, and Jordynne Grace will team with Kiera Hogan to take on Allie and Su Yung.
Impact Wrestling: Homecoming, January 6th – Lineup:
Impact World Championship
Johnny Impact (c) vs Brian Cage
Knockouts Championship
Tessa Blanchard (c) vs Taya Valkyrie
X-Division Championship Ultimate X Match
Rich Swann vs Trey Miguel vs Jake Crist vs Ethan Page
Impact Tag Team Championships
LAX (c) vs The Lucha Bros (Pentagon Jr. & Fenix)
Monster’s Ball
Abyss vs Eli Drake
Falls Count Anywhere
Moose vs Eddie Edwards
Sami Callihan vs Willie Mack
Allie & Su Yung vs Kiera Hogan & Jordynne Grace
Impact released the following press release in regards to the upcoming PPV:
“IMPACT Wrestling, a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment Corp., returns to pay-per-view on Sunday, Jan. 6 for Homecoming, its first event of the New Year, from The Asylum in Nashville, TN. The three-hour extravaganza kicks off at 8:00 p.m. ET and will be distributed on cable, satellite and digital pay-per-view, including DISH, DirecTV, iN Demand, Vubiquity, Rogers, Bell, Shaw and Sasktel across North America, and streaming live globally exclusively on the FITE.tv app.”
The last episode of Impact Wrestling on POP TV aired last night. It was also the go-home show for Sunday’s Homecoming PPV. Impact has promised an edgier product to go along with the move to a network more suited for it.
8 Takeaways From Impact Wrestling 1/3:
Johnny Impact and Brian Cage Square Off Before Homecoming
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8SPepgPqck
The Lucha Bros defeated Johnny Impact and Brian Cage
In the night’s main event, Pentagon and Fenix defeated the World Champion and #1 contender. Following the match, it appeared as though Cage and Impact were going to agree to settle things in Nashville but Johnny appeared to change his mind just as Cage went to leave. The champion motioned for Cage not to leave the ring and the two brawled through security to end the show.
Raven & Tommy Dreamer United Against Eli Drake
Eli Drake cut a promo this week hyping his Monster’s Ball match with Abyss on Sunday. Tommy Dreamer came out to attack Drake but just as he was going to stomp his head into a chair, the lights went out. When they came back on Raven was in the ring. The two long-time enemies stared each other down before teaming up to beat up Drake. Raven and Dreamer might have a vested interest in Abyss vs Drake this Sunday.
There Are No Friends In War Between LAX and Lucha Bros
This is passion. This is fire. This is what the IMPACT World Tag Team Titles mean to @Ortiz5150 and @SantanaLAX.
The Lucha Bros and LAX each cut backstage promos this week about their Impact tag-team championship match at Homecoming. LAX said they will prove they can win without Konnan, who has said he won’t’ be in the corner for the match.
Pentagon and Fenix said backstage that the two teams aren’t allies and it will not be a friendly match in Nashville.
Sami Callihan Vs Willie Mack Added To Homecoming
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PAHGGVl760
Rich Swann, Willie Mack, Dezmond Xavier, Trey Miguel & Zachary Wentz defeated Sami Callihan, Dave Crist, Jake Crist, Matt Sydal & Ethan Page
Sami Callihan and OVE are the reason Willie Mack isn’t wrestling for the X-Division Championship at Homecoming. This week Callihan again antagonized Mack by attacking him after the Rascalz, Mack and Rich Swann defeated OVE, Ethan Page, and Matt Sydal.
4 of the wrestlers in this match, Jake Crist, Ethan Page, Swann, and Trey, will compete in the Ultimate X match on Sunday. Meanwhile, after Callihan and OVE attacked Mack after the match, Impact officials made the match between Callihan and Mack official for Sunday.
Allie & Su Yung vs Kiera Hogan & Jordynn Grace Added To Homecoming
Allie defeated Kiera Hogan
Dark Allie defeated her old ally, Kiera Hogan, in single’s competition this week. After the match, Allie and Su Yung continued the beat down on Hogan until Jordynne Grace made the save. Later in the show, a tag match featuring the four involved was made official for Homecoming.
Killer Kross Put Trevor Lee Out Of The Territory
Killer Kross defeated Trevor Lee
Earlier in the show, Trevor Lee was seen telling management he was sick of sitting on the sidelines. Impact management booked him in a match with Killer Kross as a result. Kross not only beat Trevor Lee, he then sent him out of the territory by smashing a cinder block over his head.
Kross has been trying to tell Johnny Impact as of late that Johnny needs to have Kross watch his back. It’s possible Kross decides to get involved in the main event of Homecoming.
Not match happened this week in the Knockouts division. The rivalry between Tessa Blanchard and Taya Valkyrie will see match #3 take place on Sunday. Blanchard won the first match, albeit there was some controversy as the referee had been out of position after Valkyrie hit the Road to Valhalla. Blanchard was then DQ’ed in the rematch. With Gail Kim assigned as the special referee for this one, the Knockouts title match at Homecoming could steal the show.
Scarlett Bordeaux Scouts KM & Fallah Bah
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12daRQ3HbXU
Scarlett Bordeaux continued her talent search this week as well. She seemed somewhat impressed with the team of KM and Fallah Bah, who were victorious over the Desi Hit Squad this week.
Quick Results:
Rich Swann, Willie Mack, Dezmond Xavier, Trey Miguel & Zachary Wentz defeated Sami Callihan, Dave Crist, Jake Crist, Matt Sydal & Ethan Page
KM & Fallah Bah defeated The Desi Hit Squad
Allie defeated Kiera Hogan
Killer Kross defeated Trevor Lee
Fenix and Pentagon defeated Brian Cage and Johnny Impact
Homecoming PPV Lineup
Impact World Championship
Johnny Impact (c) vs Brian Cage
Knockouts Championship
Tessa Blanchard (c) vs Taya Valkyrie
X-Division Championship Ultimate X Match
Rich Swann vs Trey Miguel vs Jake Crist vs Ethan Page
Impact Tag Team Championships
LAX (c) vs The Lucha Bros (Pentagon Jr. & Fenix)
On Thursday, Impact Wrestling officials announced that Nick Wilson, who is the $1 million winner of Survivor: David vs. Goliath, will be sitting in the front row at their Homecoming PPV event. This plays off the fact that Johnny Impact was featured on this season of the reality show. It was noted in the press release that Wilson is bringing 10 other Impact fans as well as fellow Survivor contestant Davie Rickenbacker to the show.
“I’m really excited that Nick and Davie will be in my corner for the Homecoming pay-per-view match,” Johnny Impact stated. “Although I was rivals with both at the start of Survivor, we ultimately became good friends and I know each will have my back. Brian Cage won’t be able to blindside me with Nick and Davie watching my back.”
Impact Wrestling’s Homecoming pay-per-view event is scheduled to take place at The Asylum in Nashville, Tennessee on January 6, 2019. Here’s the updated card:
Impact Homecoming Card
Impact World Champion Johnny Impact vs Brian Cage (Cage is cashing in his X Division Championship)
Knockouts Champion Tessa Blanchard vs Taya Valkyrie (Gail Kim to serve as special guest referee)
Impact Tag Team Champions LAX vs Lucha Brothers
Eli Drake vs Abyss – Monster’s Ball Match
Ultimate X: Rich Swann vs Jake Crist vs Ethan Page vs Trey Miguel for the vacated X Division Championship
Moose vs. Eddie Edwards – Falls Count Anywhere Match
What are your thoughts on this card? Sound off in the comment section.
Rumors have been circling Trevor Lee, especially in relation to his interest in WWE. It is speculated that he is a part of their new batch of signees. This new group are expected to be announced this month.
The wrestling industry is on a fascinating precipice at this point in time. With promotions attempting to step up their game to compete with WWE and their growing disillusioned fanbase, independent wrestling has been going from strength to strength over the past few years.
With genuine alternatives such as New Japan Pro Wrestling, Ring Of Honor, and the newly announced All Elite Wrestling, there are an undeniable amount of options available for not only wrestling fans but the wrestlers themselves.
Tessa Blanchard Awarded Female Wrestler of the Year
Tessa Blanchard has been announced the winner of the 2018 Apter Chat Female Wrestler Of The Year award. She received the plaque on a recent episode of Impact Wrestling, where she said that she was honored to gain the award.
“Thank you guys so much. This is such an honor. You’ve known me since the beginning, Bill. Thank you so much,” Blanchard said. “Guys thank you so much, but I deserve this. I am the 2018 Women’s Wrestler of the Year, not only for The Apter Chat, but for all of wrestling.”
Former MMA fighter and NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler took to Twitter recently to tweet out a picture of a fan holding a sign in a WWE event which reads “UFC IS FAKE.” Baszler also added the #UFC232 caption to the picture, referring to the recent UFC 232 event that just took place last night.
Shayna has tweeted similar statements in the past whenever a UFC event is taking place.
The 27 December episode of Impact Wrestling saw an increased number of viewers than last week’s episode.
The episode was able to draw 135,000 viewers, which is an improvement from 20 December’s 116,000.
The rating however, stayed the same at 0.04 in the 18-49 demographic.
Impact Wrestling has been airing ‘Best of 2018’ episodes since the last two weeks showcasing, well, the best moments of Impact Wrestling from this year.
This ‘Best of 2018 Part 2’ episode was actually the second most watched episode since Impact moved to the 10PM time slot in October. The most watched episode in this time-slot was the 13 December edition, which amassed 140,000 viewers.
The company has announced that the show is going to move to Pursuit Channel next month. Impact Wrestling Executive Vice President Don Callis said that we can expect a “sexier and edgier” Impact on the primarily hunting and outdoor recreation focused channel.
Here are the viewership stats for the last four episodes:
Don Callis, Impact Wrestling Executive Vice President, has commented on Impact moving to the Pursuit Channel next month. On the latest episode of his Killing the Town podcast, Callis put a positive spin on Impact leaving Pop TV and dropped some hints about what to expect from the promotion in 2019.
“This week we announced our move from Pop TV, which was a great partner for us,” Callis said. “A lot of fans thought, ‘wow, you guys should be on a different network with a different demographic,’ so we announced we’re moving to Pursuit, which is an exciting thing for me. When you talk about how you deal with your content as a company because our parent company, Anthem, owns not only the Fight Network and Game TV, they also own a significant stake in Pursuit, so it’s a great strategic move for us.”
With a new television home comes yet another adjustment to Impact’s approach to producing content. The Pursuit Channel caters to an audience that is interested in hunting, fishing and the outdoors. With that backdrop, Callis says the product will be “sexier” and edgier.
“I think people are gonna love to see a sexier, edgier, maybe a little more hardcore Impact Wrestling. I’m really really pumped about that, so I’m pretty excited.”
The parties behind the All Elite Wrestling upstart promotion have reportedly turned down an offer to purchase Impact Wrestling, according to the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter. “It is not a secret that there were forces attempting to sell Impact to AEW a few months ago,” wrote Dave Meltzer. “But that proposal was turned down.”
We’ve reached out to Impact Wrestling for their comment on the matter.
Impact Moving to Pursuit Channel
Impact Wrestling recently announced they will be moving to the Pursuit channel in 2019. Anthem owns a minority stake in the channel as well. The promotion will debut on their new channel on Friday, January 11th, 2019 at 10 PM. Once WWE Smackdown moves to Fox Sports in October, Impact’s new timeslot would air right after it.
One possible outcome of the switch to the Pursuit channel is the potential for edgier content. This was addressed in a recent company press release.
“With IMPACT Wrestling coming off a tremendous year of audience growth globally and positive fan engagement,” an Impact press release reads. “We look forward to leveraging our respective resources to bring fans more of the wrestling content they want to see: tougher, edgier action.”
Eddie Edwards received a broken orbital bone in January after a botched baseball bat spot with Sami Callihan. At Impact Wrestling’s January 2018 tapings, Callihan struck Edwards in the eye with a baseball bat. Callihan had been swinging at a chair which was positioned atop Edwards at the time.
This week, Impact Wrestling fans voted Sami Callihan as the promotion’s MVP of the year. They also voted the infamous baseball bat spot as “Moment of the Year”.
Edwards spoke to Sports Illustrated not long after the incident. He said his initial concern was losing his eye.
“Losing my eye was my immediate concern. As soon as I got hit, I put my hand over my eye, started walking up the ramp to the back and all I was thinking was that I really hoped my eye was not hanging out of my head or in my hand.”
Callihan also spoke with TMZ Sports not long after the botched spot took place.
“I hit this man in the face with a baseball bat and in the last 24 hours I’ve been getting all this hate and all this negativity online and Impact says ‘Yo, you have to go out of your way to make this right,'” Callihan said. “People are saying we crossed the line, so from the bottom of my heart, I have to tell each and every one of you that I’m not sorry for a single thing that happened. Look at me and tell me I’m not being serious. I do not feel bad. TMZ is messaging and interviewing Eddie Edwards when they should be interviewing me. The most dangerous man in professional wrestling today. Oh yeah, and Jim Cornette, you can kiss my ass too.”
Impact Wrestling will be moving to the Pursuit Channel in 2019. The first episode of Impact Wrestling on their new channel will be on Friday, January 11th, 2019 at 10 PM. Anthem Sports and Entertainment owns a minority stake in the Pursuit channel as well.
Impact co-Vice President, Scott D’Amore, spoke to Nick Hausman of the WINCLY podcast regarding the move:
“First and foremost, I have to say POP TV — despite all the frustrations that are our very passionate fan base has — they have been a very supportive partner over the years that we’ve been there, and they’ve been supportive through this process,” D’Amore said. “We’ve been looking and evaluating things on an ongoing basis, when myself and Don [Callis] came on board at the beginning of the year, we always said it was going to be a slow process. It was going to be a bunch of small victories, a bunch of small maneuvers that would lead us to bigger and better things. We think we had a great 2018 where we made a lot of positive steps, and as we look back to the beginning of the year to where we are now, we’re very hopeful and excited about things.”
Impact Wrestling Moves To The Pursuit Channel
A key part to the deal appears to be the demographics of who watches Pursuit versus who watches POP.
“POP is changing up things on the network and while both sides acknowledged we were never the right fit for a female-dominated network, we enjoyed a few years together,” D’Amore continued. “We’ve been looking at moving on, doing some other things, as we looked at the options it seemed like the best time to make a move to Pursuit, which is a sister company to Impact Wrestling. There’s an ownership stake that [Impact parent company] Anthem Sports & Entertainment has in them and Pursuit is a male-dominated demographic.”
Impact Wrestling has announced a new television partner for 2019. Starting on January 11th, Impact will air Friday nights at 10pm ET on the Pursuit Channel. The Pursuit Channel is an outdoors channel (hunting & fishing) that is affiliated with the Fight Network and FNTSY Sport Network, which are both owned by Impact parent company Anthem.
In a press release sent out Friday morning, Impact Wrestling President Ed Nordholm put a positive spin on the news. “Pursuit Channel is a natural fit for IMPACT! It has a passionate viewership base that correlates strongly with our core audience, and is one of the few broadcast destinations that is expanding its footprint, enjoying a 15% increase in broadcast distribution this year alone.”
Nordholm continued, “With IMPACT Wrestling coming off a tremendous year of audience growth globally and positive fan engagement, we look forward to leveraging our respective resources to bring fans more of the wrestling content they want to see: tougher, edgier action.”
There are pros and cons to this move. Several months ago, it was widely reported that Pop TV had soured on Impact Wrestling and was looking to drop the show at the end of the year. Impact was drawing around 300,000 viewers this year through July, when things went south. Impact has not drawn above 200,000 viewers since September and dipped below 100,000 in October when Pop TV moved the show out of prime time.
Landing another “TV deal” means Impact Wrestling will live on, for now. On the flip side, the Pursuit Channel is an obscure channel co-owned by Impact’s parent company Anthem, so it’s unlikely they will be getting significant TV rights fees, if any. This latest change of network and air date will not do their audience any favors.
This week’s episode of Impact Wrestling sees a rise in viewership by 20% as the episode drew in 144,000 viewers. Last week’s episode that aired on 6 December had 116,000 tuning in.
The ratings of this week’s episode were the highest since 25 October, when Impact shifted to the late night time-slot on POP TV.
The episode got a rating of 0.05 in the 18-49 year-old demographic. Last week’s episode’s ratings averaged in at 0.04.
The show is again experiencing a rise in viewership and ratings which is a good news as the road has been kind of topsy-turvy lately. Last week’s episode only managed to pull in 116,000 viewers, whereas just a month ago the 15 November episode was the worst rated with a rating of 0.01 and 101,000 viewers.
The episode also ranked in at 145 on the Cable Top 150 list this week. Last week’s episode barely made it on the list at no. 150.
Here are the viewership stats for the last four episodes:
13 December: 140,000
6 December: 116,000
29 November: 122,000
22 November: 124,000
You can check out the results and the takeaways from the episode by clicking here.
New matches for the first Impact Wrestling pay-per-view event of the new year, Homecoming, has been revealed.
First up is Moose vs. Eddie Edwards in a Falls Count Anywhere match. Also booked is the Ultimate X match to crown a new X-Division Champion as Jake Crist, Ethan Page, Rich Swann, and Trey Miguel have qualified to compete in the match.
Impact Wrestling’s Homecoming pay-per-view event is scheduled to take place at The Asylum in Nashville, Tennessee on January 6, 2019. As of this writing, the promotion has yet to reveal any other details on the show. The promotion will be adding more matches to the card in the coming weeks. Here’s the updated card:
Impact Homecoming Card
Impact World Champion Johnny Impact vs Brian Cage (Cage is cashing in his X Division Championship)
Knockouts Champion Tessa Blanchard vs Taya Valkyrie (Gail Kim to serve as special guest referee)
Impact Tag Team Champions LAX vs Lucha Brothers
Eli Drake vs Abyss – Monster’s Ball Match
Ultimate X: Rich Swann vs Jake Crist vs Ethan Page vs Trey Miguel for the vacated X Division Championship
Moose vs. Eddie Edwards – Falls Count Anywhere Match
What are your thoughts on the matches being added to the card? Sound off in the comment section.
After this week’s episode of Impact Wrestling, there are just 3 shows left before Homecoming on January 6th. Here are 10 takeaways from Impact Wrestling 12/13:
Gail Kim To Referee Tessa vs Taya III
Gail Kim was announced as the special referee for the Knockouts Championship match between champion, Tessa Blanchard, and challenger, Taya Valkyrie at Homecoming. This coming on the heels of the champion getting purposely disqualified in their Bound For Glory rematch at the New York tapings and then subsequently strangling a referee two weeks ago.
With Kim serving as referee and Taya debuting a new submission hold recently, it’s looking as though she could walk away from Homecoming the new champion.
Killer Kross Wants To Bring The Devious Johnny Impact To The Surface
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUrTpa6m-dg
Killer Kross is fast becoming my favorite promo on Impact. He has continuously offered to watch Johnny Impact’s back ever since losing to him at Final Hour last month. The Impact champion wants nothing to do with him, however. This week he threatened Kross to stay out of his business but it’s just that kind of attitude Kross is trying to bring out of Johnny.
Johnny Impact will defend his title against Brian Cage at Homecoming and Kross believes the champ will need his help to retain. What role will Kross play at Homecoming?
Dark Allie Is Coming For Kiera Hogan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1ym0rPTYYw
Kiera Hogan was wrong, there is no good left in Allie. This week, Allie and Su Yung cut a backstage promo which would give small children nightmares. Allie said something along the lines of “the end of the beginning is the beginning of the end” in multiple ways before making it clear she is targetting her former friend, Kiera Hogan.
Eli Drake Visited Raven In Shady Acres
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFnNOvbAgUw
Last week, Raven helped Eddie Edwards escape from a mental institution. Evidently, Eli Drake watched last weeks episode and decided to pay Raven a visit this week.
While Drake would give Raven his due as a trendsetter and legendary hardcore wrestler, he also said he wants to rid pro wrestling of the wrestlers who were inspired by people like Raven.
Drake’s quest to end hardcore wrestling will continue at Homecoming when he faces Abyss in a Monster’s Ball match. He told Raven to watch.
Eddie Edwards Returned To Attack Moose
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Lye18AUUi8
Moose vs Brian Cage – No Contest
After escaping Shady Acres last week, Edwards attacked Moose in the night’s main event this week. He didn’t even bother to take off his hospital gown. Edwards has been spiraling downward mentally all year, ever since his rivalry with Sami Callihan. He’ll look to get revenge on his former friend Moose at Homecoming. Their match has now been made a “Falls Count Anywhere” match.
Konnan Won’t Be In LAX’s Corner At Homecoming
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlrWqKV0aFw
Konnan never wanted LAX to defend their tag belts against the Lucha Bros. Santana and Ortiz went against his wishes and challenged them anyway, much to Konnan’s disliking. This week, Konnan informed the team that he will not be in their corner at Homecoming.
Fenix also defeated Santana in single’s action this week.
Rich Swann Does Not Want To Go To War With Sami Callihan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K68RL5GgHGs
Rich Swann defeated Dave Crist
Swann defeated Dave Crist this week to qualify for Ultimate X at Homecoming. With all four spots in the match now confirmed, Swann could be considered the favorite to walk away from Nashville as the new champion.
After the match, the Crist brothers attacked Swann. Willie Mack came out to help but both Swann and Callihan stopped their allies from attacking the other side. Swann and Callihan have a long history on the independent scene, especially with Combat Zone Wrestling. Swan again told Mac this week in the back that he does not want two “go there” with the devious Sami Callihan.
Jordynne Grace Is Still Very, Very, Strong
Jordynne Grace defeated Ruby Raze
Katarina thought she could bring in a ringer to face Jordynne Grace this week. After all, she had success sticking Murder Clown against her enemies in Mexico. This week didn’t go as well, however.
Jordynne Grace improves her Impact record to 3-0 as she defeated Raze this week, letting everyone in the Impact Knockouts division know she is moving her way up the rankings as quickly as possible.
Trey Miguel Qualifies For Ultimate X
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0E05RnYiJBU
Trey Miguel defeated Trevor Lee
We may have seen Trevor Lee’s last match in Impact this week. He was defeated by Trey from the Rascalz in an Ultimate X qualifier. The win gives the Rascalz their first shot to bring home gold at Homecoming. Trey likely still wants to impress Scarlett Bordeaux, who showed up in the trio’s “That 70s Show” style smoking session.
Scarlett Bordeaux Has The Desi Hit Squad Fighting Over Her
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHqUH9ZOdpU
The Desi Hit Squad is going to fight over Scarlett Bordeaux next week. The Smokeshow visited the team in the back this week and said she loves it when men fight over her. Thus, the Desi Hit Squad will do just that next week.
Quick Results:
Rich Swann defeated Dave Crist
Fenix defeated Santana
Jordynne Grace defeated Ruby Raze
Moose vs Brian Cage – No Contest
Confirmed Matches for Homecoming (Non-Spoiler):
Impact World Championship
Johnny Impact (c) vs Brian Cage
Knockouts Championship
Tessa Blanchard (c) vs Taya Valkyrie (Gail Kim as Special Referee)
X-Division Championship
Ultimate X Match
Jake Crist vs Ethan Page vs Rich Swann vs Trey Miguel
Impact Tag Team Championships
LAX (c) vs Pentagon and Fenix
A new match for the first Impact Wrestling pay-per-view event of the new year, Homecoming, has been revealed. During this week’s episode of Impact Wrestling on Pop TV, it was announced that Eli Drake would battle Abyss in a Monster’s Ball match at this show.
In the headliner, Impact World Champion Johnny Impact will defend his title against Brian Cage, who is cashing in his X Division Championship as ‘Option C.’
Impact Wrestling’s Homecoming pay-per-view event is scheduled to take place at The Asylum in Nashville, Tennessee on January 6, 2019. As of this writing, the promotion has yet to reveal any other details on the show. The promotion will be adding more matches to the card in the coming weeks. Here’s the updated card:
Impact Homecoming Card
Impact World Champion Johnny Impact vs Brian Cage (Cage is cashing in his X Division Championship)
Knockouts Champion Tessa Blanchard vs Taya Valkyrie (Gail Kim to serve as special guest referee)
Impact Tag Team Champions LAX vs Lucha Brothers
Eli Drake vs Abyss – Monster’s Ball Match
Rich Swann vs. Jake Crist vs. TBA vs. TBA – Ultimate X Match for the vacated X Division Championship
What are your thoughts on this match being added to the card? Sound off in the comment section.
Johnny Impact and Taya Valkyrie defeated Moose & Tessa Blanchard
Earlier at the Las Vegas tapings, Taya Valkyrie demonstrated a new submission hold. This week on Impact, she was able to make the Knockouts Champion tap to it during the main event. If that happens at Homecoming, Taya will be the new champ.
After the match, Moose and Blanchard attacked the victors but various run-ins would prevent much damage from taking place.
Killer Kross Saves Taya/Brian Cage Saves Johnny Impact
Strange and strained alliances were on display in Impact’s closing moments this week. Killer Kross has been offering to watch Johnny Impact’s back in recent weeks. He made the save for Taya this week, preventing Tessa Blanchard from hitting Taya with a chair. Moose seemed to be confused by Kross’ actions, as the two have been aligned for much of the year. Before Moose and Kross could do anything further, however, Brian Cage hit the ring and took them both out.
Johnny Impact and Brian Cage stared each other down to end the show.
Raven (!!!) Helps Eddie Edwards Escape From Mental Institution
Another ECW veteran gave advice to Eddie Edwards this week. While Tommy Dreamer warned Edwards not to shorten his career trying to get revenge on Sami Callihan, Raven told Edwards he hasn’t gone far enough in his feud with Moose. Then Raven stole a key card from an orderly and passed it to Edwards, allowing him to escape Shady Acres Insane Asylum.
A former NWA World Heavyweight Champion while with TNA Wrestling, Raven is often credited with being one of the most unique minds in the history of wrestling. He said he voluntarily checks himself into Shady Acres ever so often.
Jake Crist Qualifies For Ultimate X
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c37SZ3r4Vc0
Jake Crist defeated Willie Mack – Ultimate X Qualifier
Jake Crist is going to Homecoming after defeating Willie Mack in the opener this week. Mack looked as though he had the match going his way when Sami Callihan got involved. Crist picked up the upset win after Mack was pulled off the top rope by Callihan and Crist gave him a cutter and got the pin.
Later, Mack was seen speaking to Rich Swann about wanting to get revenge on OVE. Swann, who has been in CZW wars with Callihan, warned Mack that they might not want to go there with OVE.
Ethan Page Qualifies For Ultimate X
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PamGgKjid9Q
Ethan Page defeated Matt Sydal – Ultimate X Qualifier
The second of two upsets in Ultimate X Qualifying matches came when Ethan Page defeated his mentor, Matt Sydal. The two exchanged multiple pinning combinations in a row when Page was able to keep Sydal’s shoulders down for the 3.
Sydal was a good sport about the loss, even raising Page’s hand after.
Dark Allie Is Really Dark
Allie defeated Heather Monroe
Last week, Kiera Hogan made an emotional plea for the good Allie to return. Hogan didn’t get what she wanted this week, however. Allie defeated Heather Monroe while Su Yung watched ominously on the outside.
After the match, Allie continued the attack on Monroe using Su Yung’s mandible claw type move. This brought out Hogan who tried to talk some sense into Allie. Although it looked as though Allie had come back to her senses, she suddenly struck Hogan. Yung then joined the melee and they continued the beatdown on Hogan to end the segment.
Monster’s Ball Match Booked For Homecoming
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bG6e5PdmIiM
Eli Drake claimed this week that he’s dropped his lawsuit against Impact Wrestling. Despite this, he claims he is being punished by the promotion as he has now been booked in a Monsters Ball match against Abyss at Homecoming.
Konnan Says It Can Never Be The Same Between Lucha Bros and LAX
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JGEd5s53ac
Konnan didn’t want LAX to defend the belts against Pentagon and Fenix at Homecoming but LAX put out the challenge anyway. The two teams were seen arguing in the back this week, leading Konnan to say this is what he had been worried about.
Scarlett Bordeaux Joins The Rascalz Session
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ns2TlITM3eA
Scarlett Bordeaux joined the Rascalz smoking session this week. The trio seemed a little confused as to how she got there. Regardless, Bordeaux let them know she was impressed with their match last week and then reminded everyone about her ongoing global talent search.
Zachary Wentz seemed concerned that Bordeaux would attract the presence of bears.
The Desi Hit Squad Back In The Win Column
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgvnlFbjfHQ
The Desi Hit Squad defeated Damien Drake and Manny Lemons
The Desi Hit Squad were back in action this week. They defeated a pair of local competitors with much ease. Callis and Mathews talked about the depth of the tag team-team division which has been developing as of late. With the addition of the Rascalz, a new Desi Hit Squad team, the Lucha Bros and LAX, the tag division is pretty stacked at the moment.
Quick Results:
Ultimate X Qualifier
Jake Crist defeated Willie Mack
Allie defeated Heather Monroe
The Desi Hit Squad defeated Damien Drake and Manny Lemons
Ultimate X Qualifier
Ethan Page defeated Matt Sydal
Johnny Impact & Taya Valkyrie defeated Moose & Tessa Blanchard
Next Week:
Ultimate X Qualifier Rich Swann vs Dave Crist
Ultimate X Qualifier Trevor Lee vs Trey Miguel
Moose vs Brian Cage
Santana vs Fenix
Confirmed Matches for Homecoming (Non-Spoiler):
Impact World Championship
Johnny Impact (c) vs Brian Cage
Knockouts Championship
Tessa Blanchard (c) vs Taya Valkyrie
X-Division Championship
Ultimate X Match
Jake Crist vs Ethan Page vs TBD vs TBD
Impact Tag Team Championships
LAX (c) vs Pentagon and Fenix
There are 5 episodes of Impact Wrestling left before Homecoming on January 6th in Nashville. Tonight, Impact Wrestling will further the build to their next PPV.
Impact Wrestling 12/6 Preview
Johnny Impact & Taya Valkyrie vs Moose & Tessa Blanchard
Johnny Impact will face Brian Cage at Homecoming but tonight he’ll team with his newlywed wife, Taya Valkyrie. The Knockouts Champion will team with Moose, who is hoping Eddie Edwards is not released from Shady Acres Mental Institution in time to interfere in this match.
Last week on Impact, Blanchard attempted to strangle a referee until Gail Kim ran out and pulled her off. It’s possible we hear more about Gail Kim’s potential involvement with Blanchard tonight.
Killer Kross might be watching this match closely as well. He again offered to watch Johnny’s back last week.
Dark Allie Returns
Allie returned from the undead realm at Bound For Glory without her soul. Now a dark passenger is along with Allie wherever she goes. Kiera Hogan believes there is still good inside of her, however. Hogan made an emotional plea last week for the good Allie to come back.
Tonight, Dark Allie will return to Impact Wrestling. Wherever she goes, Su Yung is sure to follow as well.
Ultimate X Qualifier: Willie Mack vs Jake Crist
Willie Mack will go one-on-one with OVE’s Jake Crist tonight. The winner will be granted one of four spots in the Ultimate X match at Homecoming. Mack hasn’t been in Impact Wrestling for long but he’s already in a spot to potentially win a major title.
Ultimate X Qualifier: Matt Sydal vs Ethan Page
Third-eyes will collide tonight as Matt Sydal goes one-on-one with his protege, Ethan Page. Sydal is the former X-Division Champion before dropping the belt to Brian Cage at Slammiversary. He once said the X-Division title was his calling and it’s possible the belt is calling to him again. He’ll have to get by his own pupil to get that chance, however.
Impact Wrestling is looking for a new home. The show currently airs on POP TV in the United States but the promotion is looking for a new broadcast partner. Internationally, Impact airs on the Fight Network and on various other channels in different markets.
The deal to air Impact Wrestling in the United States on POP is up at the end of this year. The show is expected to continue on POP in 2019, however, until Impact is able to find a new broadcaster for the show in the USA.
According to a report from the Wrestling Observer, Impact has been meeting with several channels but has yet to strike a new deal.
“Impact is expected to remain on Pop until they can negotiate a deal with a new station,” wrote Dave Meltzer. “They have talked to a ton of stations. Besides the ones mentioned, they’ve also inquired into Bein.”
The issue with Impact having spoken to BeIN is that the station has an exclusive deal with MLW.
The other networks Impact is believed to have met with include SyFy, TruTV, and WGN America. In recent weeks, POP TV has pushed back Impact’s start time to 10 PM. This has caused the show’s start time to also be pushed back in other markets.
Posted December 6th, 2018 in News, TNA. Tagged: POP TV.
We noted before how Chris Jericho continued playing with the idea of his future by recently posting a picture of himself alongside some officials from Impact Wrestling.
During his recent interview with Drew Dalby, Y2J discussed the current wrestling demographic in detail and while doing so, he also briefly mentioned his meeting with Impact Employees.
Jericho was discussing his future in wrestling. He revealed that he has one more NJPW match left but apart from that and a couple of movie shoots; his schedule for the next 3-4 months is pretty open.
When Delby brought up all the options Chris has in front of him, the former World Champion claimed that nothing is set in stone. While talking about his recent picture, Chris Jericho admitted that he recently met with Impact Officials.
He claimed that he had a great conversation with them ‘the other day’ in Toronto and said that there are some great matches he could have in Impact Wrestling.
Though this is all the Fozzy Star revealed and he then went on to discuss the other options he has in front of him like the matches he wants to have in NJPW and maybe a WWE return as well.
Knowing Jericho he would never admit even if the meeting was about his Impact debut. Though with him being involved with the upcoming AEW promotion, it doesn’t look very likely that he is thinking of having a run with the company.
You can check out Chris’ full interview in the video below:
Gail Kim was inducted into the Impact Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2016. She subsequently retired from in-ring competition in February. Lance Storm believes Kim to be a G.O.A.T (Greatest of All Time). He made his opinions known on Twitter recently:
Gail Kim Involved In Tessa Blanchard vs Taya Valkyrie Rivalry
Despite seemingly being retired, however, Kim made an appearance on Impact Wrestling this week. She prevented Tessa Blanchard from strangling a referee. Blanchard has been having her issues with referees as of late. She punched one in order to get purposely disqualified in her rematch with Taya as well.
Kim has mentioned that if she ever does decide to come out of retirement, she’d have her return match for Impact.
Tessa Blanchard (c) vs Taya Valkyrie III has been booked for Homecoming. The event will take place January 6th, 2019 from Nashville.
Earlier this year, Kim spoke to Women’s Wrestling Weekly about why she decided to retire.
“My back was starting to deteriorate and basically what happened was I just couldn’t walk after a couple of matches here and there. I never had an MRI and I never knew what was going on in my body for so long, and then it was coming to point where I was always wrestling and not being able to walk after. And I was like ‘ It’s time, I need to know what is going on. It’s a scary thought, but you have to know so you can help it’.So, I got an MRI done and I guess, I’m grateful it wasn’t worse.”
“My L4 and my L5, pretty much the discs, was just basically all gone and there was just a thin layer left to the point, it could be bone on bone soon. Basically, I made the decision that I didn’t want to keep on going, where I had to have that major surgery because that minor surgery; he (the doctor) told me I can get back in the ring in 7 weeks and that 7 weeks turned into 7 months.”
Impact Wrestling has announced the second qualifying match for the Ultimate X scheduled for Homecoming on January 6th. On Impact this week the first match, Ethan Page vs Matt Sydal was confirmed.
Willie Mack will take on Jake Crist from OVE on the next episode as well with the winner qualifying for Ultimate X.
The Ultimate X match at Homecoming will crown a new X division champion. Former champion, Brian Cage, will cash in “option C” that night and face Impact world champion, Johnny Impact.
Homecoming – January 6th, 2019 – Nashville Fairgrounds
Impact World Championship
Johnny Impact (c) vs Brian Cage
Knockouts Championship
Tessa Blanchard (c) vs Taya Valkyrie
X-Division Championship
Ultimate X Match
TBD vs TBD vs TBD vs TBD
Impact Tag Team Championships
LAX (c) vs Pentagon and Fenix
Next Week On Impact Wrestling
Several matches have already been announced for next week’s episode of Impact Wrestling.
Johnny Impact & Taya Valkyrie vs Tessa Blanchard & Moose
Dark Allie debuts
Ultimate X Qualifier
Matt Sydal vs Ethan Page
Ultimate X Qualifier
Jake Crist vs Willie Mack
The show will be the 4th from the promotion’s Las Vegas tapings held last month.
Impact Wrestling airs Thursdays at 10 PM on POP TV. The show is also broadcast globally through the Fight Network and other international television deals.
Chris Jericho was in Toronto last night for a Fozzy concert at the Rockpile. While in town he evidently met with the Impact Wrestling management team of Scott D’Amore, Don Callis, and Ed Nordholm.
Jericho posted a photo of the four of them along with Jericho’s father (and former New York Ranger), Ted Irvine.
Anthem Sports and Entertainment’s head office is located in Toronto.
Chris Jericho and Impact Wrestling
Jericho has been linked to Impact since his friend Don Callis was appointed co-Vice President. Callis takes credit for bringing Jericho into NJPW and setting up the WrestleKingdom match between Kenny Omega and Jericho last January. Jericho, Callis, and Omega are all from Winnipeg, MB, Canada.
Jericho and Impact Wrestling worked together in October as well for the Chris Jericho Rock N Rager at Sea. He had originally booked just Ring of Honor wrestlers to appear on the cruise but Impact’s involvement was confirmed earlier this year as well.
Earlier this month, the Wrestling Observer printed the following regarding a potential Impact and NJPW talent-sharing arrangement.
“(NJPW) didn’t use guys like Brian Cage and John Morrison because they were Impact guys,” Dave Meltzer wrote in the Wrestling Observer. “And stopped some of their own talent from working Impact.”
Many things in wrestling seem destined to change in 2019, however. Jericho, Callis, D’Amore, and Nordholm may have touched upon that subject last night.
Against Konnan’s best wishes, Santana and Ortiz challenged Pentagon and Fenix to a match at Homecoming last night on Impact. Two weeks ago, LAX told Konnan they wanted to face the Lucha Brothers for the titles but Konnan said he didn’t want to see that match. Evidently, LAX chose to ignore his advice and challenged the brothers to a match at Homecoming anyway.
Pentagon and Fenix had just defeated Willie Mack and Rich Swann when LAX made the challenge. Impact Wrestling management would make the match official shortly after.
BREAKING: It's OFFICIAL for Homecoming on January 6th.
@SantanaLAX and @Ortiz5150 will defend the IMPACT World Tag Team Titles in a dream championship match against @PENTAELZEROM and @ReyFenixMx! #IMPACTonPop
Impact Wrestling Homecoming – January 6th, 2019 – Nashville, TN
Impact World Championship
Johnny Impact (c) vs Brian Cage
Knockouts Championship
Tessa Blanchard (c) vs Taya Valkyrie
X-Division Championship
Ultimate X Match
TBD vs TBD vs TBD vs TBD
Impact Tag Team Championships
LAX (c) vs Pentagon and Fenix
LAX – Impact Wrestling Tag Team Championship Reign
LAX is on their 3rd reign as Impact tag champs. They defended the belts 3x. LAX has defended the belts successfully against the OGZ, Brent Banks & Tarik, and Jonny Storm and Jody Fleisch. They also beat Matt Sydal and Ethan Page in a non-title match recently.
Out of the last 636 days, LAX has held the Impact tag belts 551 days, the longest of any team in the promotion’s history. They broke Beer Money’s record of 514 combined days last month.
Impact Wrestling presented their 3rd episode from the Las Vegas tapings last night. Last week, however, the promotion only aired one new match with the rest having been flashbacks to previous Thanksgiving specials.
This week, the promotion was back to building towards Homecoming on January 6th, 2019 in Nashville.
Here are 10 Takeaways From Impact Wrestling 11/29:
Two weeks ago on Impact, LAX told Konnan they want to defend their belts against Pentagon and Fenix. Konnan said he didn’t like that match just yet but LAX challenged the Lucha Bros this week anyway.
Pentagon and Fenix had just defeated Willie Mack and Rich Swann to open the show when LAX came out and challenged them. The title match was later made official for Homecoming.
Later in the show, Konnan told LAX that once the two teams went head-to-head there would be no turning back, and no being friends after and that’s why he didn’t want the match to happen yet.
Killer Kross Is Still Trying To Protect Johnny Impact
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyQwX1Wo07Y
Killer Kross wants to help Johnny Impact. Kross again offered to help Johnny “do whatever it takes” to beat Brian Cage at Homecoming this week. It sounds as though Kross is trying to bring out a different side of Johnny, one he believes is more capable of beating someone like Brian Cage.
One has to wonder if Kross is going to take it upon himself to influence what happens between Cage and Johnny at Homecoming.
Eli Drake Goes Hardcore On Tommy Dreamer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IitXAhkUMv4
Eli Drake defeated Tommy Dreamer – No DQ MATCH
Eli Drake wants to rid Impact Wrestling of hardcore matches and wrestlers like Tommy Dreamer. Ironically, Dreamer actually beat Drake via count-out in the night’s main event, only for the match to be re-started as a No DQ match by Impact management. Once playing under Tommy’s rules, Drake managed to get the victory.
Dreamer kicked out from the Gravy Train, the first person in Impact to do so. This left Drake needing to take things a step farther to get the win in last night’s main event. He wrapped a steel chair around Dreamer’s head and bashed it with a boat ore before pinning him for the win.
Taya Valkyrie Adds A Submission To Her Arsenal
Taya Valkyrie defeated Ray Lyn
At Bound For Glory, Tessa Blanchard needed to break out a new move to defeat Taya Valkyrie. After Taya kicked out from the Buzzsaw DDT, Blanchard broke out “Magnum”, a top rope codebreaker named after her step-father, Magnum TA.
This week Taya broke out a new submission move to get the win over Ray Lyn. It wasn’t the only new wrinkle added to the Knockouts title match at Homecoming, however, as Tessa Blanchard’s conflict with Impact referees continues.
Tessa Blanchard Will Strangle Referees/Gail Kim Does Not Condone
Taya vs Tessa II at Final Hour ended when Blanchard punched the referee to get purposely disqualified. The referee then visited Blanchard in the back this week and explained that in the ring, he stands for law and order. When Blanchard hit the ring after Taya’s match this week, she ended up punching the referee yet again. She would continue to strangle him until his face was flush red.
Impact Hall-of-Famer, Gail Kim, had to come out and pry Blanchard off of the referee. Management may have to take action against the Knockouts Champion. Will Gail Kim play a further role in the Tessa v Taya rivalry?
Eddie Edwards Is Staying At Shady Acres
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJ6513ph24k&t=7s
Eddie Edwards is staying at a mental institution which shares the same name as the one from Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. Somehow, his doctors seemed to think it was a good idea to allow Alisha Edwards to berate him for several moments before then allowing Moose to read to him from his own children’s book.
Moose mentioned Edwards’ book didn’t mention Moose power-bombing him on the ramp or any of the other beatings he’s given him. Edwards will likely be released from Shady Acres before Homecoming, and we’ll possibly see him and Moose renew their rivalry then.
Kiera Hogan Pleas For The Old Allie To Come Back
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KiMJO8V6MY
A new Allie has returned from the undead realm, one now aligned with James Mitchell and Su Yung. This week Kiera Hogan made a plea for the good Allie to return. Hogan believes the darkness hasn’t fully consumed Allie. She said Allie could have really hurt her two weeks ago but didn’t. To Hogan, that makes her believe good Allie is still alive deep within this new dark Allie.
Jordynne Grace Is Very Strong (Still)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZVoE-WU_o8
Jordynne Grace defeated Katarina
Jordynne Grace has started her Impact Wrestling career by defeating Katarina twice in a row. Katarina seemed to get in a bit more offense then she did last time out but the end result was the same: Grace squeezing her opponent in a bear-hug so tight the tap-out comes almost instantly.
After Homecoming, it’s likely a new challenger for the Knockouts title will need to be declared (assuming there are no further immediate Tessa vs Taya matches). Grace is someone who could rise to the top of the division quickly as we head into 2019.
The Rascalz Have Arrived
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoWe7pscr7o
Dezmond Xavier and Zachary Wentz defeated Mike Sydal & Chris Bey
Trey Miguel, Dezmond Xavier, and Zachary Wentz have arrived in Impact Wrestling. They’d each participated in tapings before but now it’s clear the trio are about to make a splash in the promotion. All three have impressed many on the independent scene and look primed to do the same thing in Impact Wrestling.
Gold Rush – November 30th
Gold Rush takes place tonight from Newark, CA. The show gets going live on Twitch at 10:30 PM. Some of the matches advertised for the show are below:
Brian Cage vs Moose
Kiera Hogan vs Tessa Blanchard
Rich Swann vs Matt Sydal
oVe vs the Freaks
Johnny Impact vs Eli Drake
Quick Results:
The Lucha Bros defeated Willie Mack & Rich Swann
Jordynne Grace defeated Katarina
Taya Valkyrie defeated Ray Lyn
Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz w/ Trey Miguel defeated Mike Sydal & Chris Bey
Eli Drake defeated Tommy Dreamer – No DQ
Next week:
Johnny Impact & Taya Valkyrie vs Tessa Blanchard & Moose
Dark Allie debuts
Ultimate X Qualifier
Matt Sydal vs Ethan Page
Confirmed Matches for Homecoming (Non-Spoiler):
Impact World Championship
Johnny Impact (c) vs Brian Cage
Knockouts Championship
Tessa Blanchard (c) vs Taya Valkyrie
X-Division Championship
Ultimate X Match
TBD vs TBD vs TBD vs TBD
Impact Tag Team Championships
LAX (c) vs Pentagon and Fenix