A press conference was held in Mexico earlier today to reveal details of Impact Wrestling’s alliance with the Lucha Libre AAA promotion. In addition to AAA talent working Slammiversary 2017 in July and Impact talent working TripleMania XXV in August, the two organizations intend to launch co-branded live event tours in the fall.

Here’s the official press release, including quotes from Impact Wrestling Chief Creative Officer Jeff Jarrett and Dorian Roldan, AAA’s Executive VP of Enterprise Development:

IMPACT Wrestling Unveils Details for Cross-Promotion, Co-Branded Events and Distribution with Lucha Libre AAA

TORONTO | NASHVILLE | MEXICO CITY – IMPACT Wrestling, a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment Corp., today unveiled details about the landmark alliance announced last month with Promociones Antonio Peña S.A. de C.V., the owner of Lucha Libre AAA, Mexico’s preeminent professional wrestling organization founded in 1992.

The alliance coincides with a mutual milestone, as this year marks the 15th anniversary of IMPACT Wrestling and 25th anniversary of Lucha Libre AAA.

“This is an exciting time of celebration for both IMPACT Wrestling and AAA Lucha Libre,” said Ed Nordholm, president of IMPACT Wrestling. “By combining our efforts on talent, touring and distribution, we will increase the global footprint of our respective companies and create the best product for our passionate fan bases.”

The previously announced talent exchange between the organizations will kick into full gear on July 2 when IMPACT Wrestling presents Slammiversary 2017 from The IMPACT Zone in Orlando, Florida. The blockbuster pay-per-view event will showcase top talent from the high-flying AAA roster.

Meanwhile, AAA will present its 25th Anniversary Triplemania XXV on August 26, 2017 in Mexico City. The annual extravaganza will feature top IMPACT Wrestling stars Bobby Lashley, Eddie Edwards and Davey Richards, and an IMPACT championship belt will be defended on Mexican soil.

The two organizations also intend to launch co-branded live tours in the fall.

In addition to these cross-promotional initiatives, Anthem Sports & Entertainment Corp. will work with Lucha Libre AAA to expand the distribution of Fight Network, the world’s premier combat sports channel and home of IMPACT Wrestling in Canada. AAA will also facilitate distribution of IMPACT Wrestling in new territories throughout Latin America and South America, while Anthem will facilitate the expansion of the Lucha Libre AAA footprint through Fight Network’s diverse distribution channels.

“The best way to celebrate these 25 years of uninterrupted work is sharing with all of you the news that we presented today – our alliance with IMPACT Wrestling and the announcement of our international tour that includes not only the North American stops that we will complete with IMPACT Wrestling but also countries like Colombia and Japan, in addition to other activities that will help us to celebrate this important anniversary,” said Dorian Roldan, Executive VP of Enterprise Development for AAA.

Jeff Jarrett, Chief Creative Officer of IMPACT Wrestling, added: “I am excited to see the stars of IMPACT Wrestling and AAA on both anniversary shows and eager to start the co-branded live events as we continue to build promotional bridges on a global basis.”

For more information, please visit www.impactwrestling.com.

– Alberto El Patron is now officially under contract with Impact Wrestling, according to a report at PWInsider.com. During a recent interview with FightfulWrestling, Alberto revealed that he’s been working for Impact Wrestling under a ‘handshake agreement’ with Jeff Jarrett.

“[Jarrett] was like, ‘Do you want to do a contract just for a week so you can see what we are going to be doing’? I said, ‘No, let’s do it the way gentleman do it. Let’s shake hands and I’ll go work for you. I will trust you. You know me and know I always deliver and what I bring to the table. I will do those four TV tapings and after those TV tapings we will sit down. If you don’t think my work is worth what I’m asking for then you say right there and I’ll give you a big discount’.”

It’s worth noting that Alberto El Patron told Fightful that he intends to retire from active competition when he’s done working for Impact Wrestling.

“At the moment, we are closing the final details of what is going to be my contract,” Alberto said last week. “Then, I will be joining TNA for good and retire in the company.”

– New Japan Pro Wrestling star Kenny Omega spoke with The Irish Mirror prior to competing at Over The Top Wrestling’s ScrapperMania III event in Dublin, Ireland at Dublin’s National Stadium this past Saturday night. When asked about the message the Bullet Club is looking to send, Omega said:

“We always had this message that we wanted to tell the people. To finally spread it to a larger fan-base… to spread our message of what pro wrestling should be, what we think it can be, to more people worldwide, that makes us happy. That makes us want to travel more and give these live performances in places that we’ve never been before.”

44-year old George Murdoch is an occasional political commentator for Fox News. Wrestling fans are more familiar with Murdoch by either the name Tyrus or Brodus Clay however.

Recently Murdoch was a guest on a right-leaning political discussion show, offering his opinion on the recent attacks on Syria. President Trump authorized the use of missiles in response to the Syrian government’s recent use of chemical weapons on civilians. Such attacks are in defiance of the Geneva Protocol (an international treaty that outlaws the use of gases and chemical weapons).

https://www.instagram.com/p/BS7IwZljJsS/?taken-by=tyrussmash

Tyrus’ Wrestling Career

When Murdoch isn’t backing up outspoken and polarizing figures on Fox News, he is the bodyguard for Eli Drake on Impact. Most recently, Tyrus was on the losing end of Impact’s 8-man tag main event last week.

Previously, Drake and Tyrus were knocked down a peg in Impact’s tag division after losing to Laredo Kid and Garza 2 weeks ago.

IMPACT have announced that Bobby Lashley will be appearing for WOS (World of Sport) during their first run of TV Tapings on May 25th/26th.

The partnership between IMPACT/WOS was announced at the recent ITV press conference by Jeremy Borash and Jeff Jarrett.

Other confirmed acts for the tapings include:

• WOS Champion Grado
• Magnus/Nick Aldis
• Davey Boy Smith Jr
• El Ligero
• Dave Mastiff
• Zack Gibson

Have your tickets for @WOSWrestlingITV yet? Better hurry! @fightbobby is coming to Preston Guild Hall on May 25th and May 26th. pic.twitter.com/Fu2ghWFAsq

— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) April 17, 2017

This week’s Impact Wrestling on POP drew 302,000 viewers, down from last week’s 309,000 viewers.

The show featured Jeremy Borash leading his team of Magnus, Alberto El Patron, Chris Adonis and Matt Morgan to victory over Josh Mathews’ team of Lashley, Eli Drake, Bram and Tyrus.

Impact ranked #115 on the Cable Top 150 this week, down from last week’s #104 ranking.

For those who missed the show, here’s this week’s “Impact:60” review clip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUi5QVGnxmU

Impact Wrestling
Airdate: April 13th 2017
Orlando FL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPZOWaRBHag

1. Reno Scum vs. Laredo Kid and Garza Jr. (Crash) vs. Decay

Impact Wrestling has been placing a lot of emphasis on the tag team division as of late. We get a 3-way tag match to start off this edition of Impact. Reno Scum look to be the next tag team thrown into the title mix, as they pick up the win here by pinning Crazy Steve after a double foot stomp.
At the end of the match Josh Mathews opted to just leave the commentary area.
Winners: Reno Scum

* We get a backstage segment of Andrew Everett claiming he’s done enough to earn an X-division title shot. Gregory Helms interupts and says Everett has to wrestle in a fatal 4-way tonight. Everett challenges Helms to be in that match.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMvEeI3wvoM

Bruce Pritchard and EC3 Segment

Pritchard asks EC3 if when he tapped out against El Patron, did he tapout in the match or did he tap out to himself? He’s trying to motivate EC3.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cl6DyYqeH4Y

2. Sienna and KM vs. Braxton Sutter and Allie

Weird finish to this match as Allie hit Sienna with a crossbody, Sienna tripped over KM and Allie held her down for the pin. After the match Kongo Kong hit the ring. Kongo immediately went after Sutter and gave him a big Samoan drop. Sienna was seen controlling Kongo, and has some type of hold on the monster.
Laurel Van Ness then hit the ring, still in her wedding dress. This distracted Allie which allowed Sienna to hit the AK-47.
Despite looking like a wild beast from the deepest darkest jungles, Kongo Kong is actually 37-year old Steve Wilson from Michigan. He’s been competing on the indies since 2004 and is finally getting his big break. He had also been featured on Global Force Wrestling.
Winners: Braxton Sutter and Allie

3. Rosemary vs. Santana Garett (non-title)

Rosemary, who took a decade long journey to get to a major promotion, sure has taken advantage of the opportunity Impact has provided her with. While the entire stable, and Bray Wyatt, need to tone down the maniacal laugh a little bit, Rosemary (Courtney Rush) has really embraced the character.
Rosemary wins this showcase match over Garrett with Red Wedding. She then licked the belt. Her next title defence will be against ODB, though ODB didn’t make an appearance here.
Winner: Rosemary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sy3GkSNeHD8

4. Andrew Everett vs. Gregory Shane Helms vs. Suicide vs. Marshe Rocket

Helms was wrestling in street gear, as he was not prepared to wrestle in this match. After taking an inziguri from Everett, Helms spent the final moments of the match on the outside. Everett got the win by hitting the shooting star press on Rocket. Whether the win finally earns him an X-division title match against Trevor Lee still is not clear. After the match Helms and Lee attacked Everett.
Winner: Andrew Everett

5. Davey Richards w/Angelina Love vs. DJZ

This match was of course filmed before DJZ suffered an injured colon that required surgery in Mexico City last week. DJZ got some offence, but for the most part this match was a showcase of Davey Richards. DJZ ended up tapping to the ankle lock. After the match Eddie Edwards ran to the ring but was stopped by security. Edward’s wife Alisha got in the ring and tackled Angelina Love while security was dealing with Eddie.
Winner: Davey Richards via submission.

6. Team JB (El Patron, Matt Morgan, Chris Adonis , Magnus) vs. Team Mathews (Lashley, Bram, Eli Drake, Tyrus)

There was a lot of back and forth between JB and Josh at commentary during this match naturally. At one point Josh seemed to turn on the Pope as well. Finish of the match came when Matt Morgan hit Bram with the Carbon Footprint and Magnus followed with a flying elbow drop for the pin. Team JB wins, and I guess that means Mathews is gone? The whole Impact roster came out to celebrate and rub it into Mathews.
Winners: Team JB (Magnus pinned Bram)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rVld05yjrA

It was a night of debuts for Impact Wrestling, as they continue to rebrand under new ownership. The show centered around Josh Mathews and Jeremy Borash picking teams for an 8-Man tag team match next week. Borash’s team includes a few new roster additions.

A surprising addition to #TeamJB! @JeremyBorash selected @ChrisMasters310 as his second pick.

#MakeImpactGreat pic.twitter.com/Qane1vTvSW

— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) April 7, 2017

Everyone welcome back @BPmattmorgan as he joins #TeamJB! #MakeImpactGreat pic.twitter.com/XLQqQFilnH

— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) April 7, 2017

Continue below for a complete recap of last night’s Impact Wrestling:

Impact Wrestling
April 6th 2017
Orlando, FL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jShUhS5tdEc

1. Eli Drake w/Tyrus vs. Caleb Konley

Konley seemed like he had things in control, but then got distracted by Tyrus on the outside. Drake picked up the victory after hitting a white noise-esque move.
Winner: Eli Drake

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuGiL-471ls

2. Gauntlet Battle Royal for Knockouts Division#1 Contender

This was Royal Rumble rules until the final two competitions, and at that point pins and submissions come into play. Madison Rayne and ODD were the final two. ODB used the TKO to get the pin on Rayne, and she earns a title match against Rosemary. She is a former 4x “Knocked Up Champ”.
Winner: ODB 

James Storm DCC Town Hall Meeting

Eddie Kingston and James Storm had a heated exchange here. Storm is now babyface with the rest of the DCC going heel. Bram went to hit Storm with a chair but was countered. Storm said his catch phrase and the segment ended.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9p8GBQff6gw

3. Andrew Everett vs. Suicide vs. Marshe Rockett

Last week we learned that Everett would be given a chance to earn an X-division title match tonight, and this was his opportunity. Everett hit a shooting star press on Rockett for the win. Commentary only mentioned that he had “stayed in contention” for an X-division title match, though it seems likely he will be granted one at some point.
Winner: Andrew Everett

4. Last Man Standing Match
Davey Richards w/Angeline Love vs. Eddie Edwards

The wives of both Eddie and Davey got involved here. The end of the match came when Angelina Love was holding Edwards and Richards had second thoughts about delivering the final blow. Love then told him to “do it for me” and he kicked his former partner in the head. Edwards was out for the 10 count.
Winner: Davey Richards

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUjwUR98P6M

5. Alberto El Patron vs. *Local Talent*

Squash match showcase for Alberto El Patron. He got on the mic after the match and said he was coming for Bobby Lashley.
Winner: Alberto El Patron

Josh Mathews and Jeremy Borash Pick Their Teams

Earlier in the night Bruce Pritchard announced that Borash and Mathews would each select a team to represent them in a match against each other next week.

Team Borash: Alberto El Patron, Chris Adonis (Chris Masters), Matt Morgan, and Magnus
Team Mathews: Bobby Lashley, Eli Drake, Tyrus, Bram

As noted earlier, DJ Z was hospitalized in Mexico last night after wrestling for the Crash lucha libre promotion. DJ Z, real name Michael Paris, was suffering from internal bleeding.

He initially explained that after his match he “puked his guts out” and was turning pale. He believes the injury occurred when he took a 450 splash and initially thought he had ‘only’ injured his ribs.

Late Thursday night, he posted the following on Facebook detailing just how serious the ordeal was.

First off, thanks so much to everyone that reached out, sent prayers or had me in their thoughts. Pretty overwhelming to see all the love i got. I havent had wifi til now and it hurts to speak, so lemme tell yall the whole story.

I was on the receiving end of a 450 Splash last night. The impact knocked the wind out of me really bad but i finished the match. When i got back to the locker room, i couldnt stand up and i knew something was off. I started feeling nauseous and puked a few times. Ricky Marvin noticed how rough i looked and called for paramedics. They took me to a nearby hospital and gave me an IV with pain medicine and anti-nausea medicine. This made me feel better. Better to the point where they released me from the hospital and my friend Diego drove me back to my hotel.

Impact Wrestling X-Division star DJ Z was taken to a Mexico City hospital late last night following a match. He had been wrestling for the Crash lucha libre promotion.

Update: A Facebook post by wrestler Charlie Santos states that Michael Paris (DJ Z) has gone in for surgery to repair internal bleeding.

TONIGHT. @TheCrashLuchas. Mexico City. Venimos a hacer historia! pic.twitter.com/hnQ8S8yBYb

— Joaquin Wilde (@joaquinwilde_) April 5, 2017

At least the match was good and the crowd threw money in the ring. If the match sucked and i got hurt id cry pic.twitter.com/kuGIC0mEAq

— Joaquin Wilde (@joaquinwilde_) April 6, 2017

What Happened to DJ Z?

30 year-old Michael Paris explained that after his match he “puked his guts out” and was turning pale. He believes the injury occurred when he took a 450 splash. At the time he felt he had only injured a rib. The video was shot just before 2AM this morning and there have been no further updates.

Crash is a new Lucha Libre promotion that features many luchadors who defected from AAA. Konnan is heavily involved with the group, and they currently have a talent sharing agreement with Impact Wrestling in place.

DJ Z has been wrestling with Impact since 2011 and is a 2x X-division champion. He has previously wrestled under the name Shiima Xion and Zema Ion as well.

UPDATE: Wrestler Charlie Santo mentioned on his Facebook page that Paris is undergoing surgery for internal bleeding. You can read the full post here.

“I don’t know if this is it for me, because I’m no longer with Impact.” – Aron Rex

This past weekend at the WrestleCon event from Orlando, former WWE Superstar Damien Sandow (Aaron Stevens) announced that he’s done with Impact Wrestling.

Aron Stevens Wrestling Career

Real name Aron Steven Haddad, the former Damien Sandow was signed to WWE developmental in 2002 just two years after beginning his career. He wrestled with Ohio Valley Wrestling until 2007 when he was released. He worked on the indies and in Puerto Rico before once again signing with WWE developmental in 2010. After 2 years wrestling in Florida, Damien Sandow was finally called up to the main roster in 2012, 10 years after signing his first developmental deal.

He was released by WWE in 2016, despite having amassed some popularity after having been the Miz’s comical side kick for a period. He competed as Aron Rex briefly in TNA, including debuting a brand new version of his character in the video below.

The Latin American Xchange captured the vacant Impact Tag Team Championships on tonight’s Impact Wrestling episode, winning a Fatal 4 Way over The Decay, Garza Jr. & Laredo Kid and Reno Scum.

LAX was represented by Santana and Ortiz. The current version of the stable includes Homicide and Diamante as wrestlers, plus manager Konnan.

The Impact Tag Team Championships were declared vacant earlier this month after The Hardys left the promotion while champions.

Below are photos and video from the match on Impact:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djkpGETqMSA

THIS MATCH IS CRAZY!! Stay tuned for more #TagTeam action after the break#MakeImpactGreat pic.twitter.com/Z5eOytKZxF

— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) March 31, 2017

Bodies are flying everywhere in the IMPACT Zone! Only one team can leave as #TagTeamChampions! #MakeImpactGreat pic.twitter.com/3vG960JLXZ

— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) March 31, 2017

#LAX are BRAND NEW #TagTeamChampions! #MakeImpactGreat pic.twitter.com/nUVA56JjXE

— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) March 31, 2017

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F84qm3483ds

This week’s Impact Wrestling episode drew 297,000 viewers, down from last week’s 305,000 viewers.

The show featured LAX winning the vacant Impact Tag Team Championships in the main event.

Impact was #112 on the cable top 150 this week, up from last week’s #115 ranking.

This week’s Impact:60 video can be seen above.

In what appears to be a publicity stunt for Impact Wrestling, the promotion’s revamped LAX faction is aiming to disrupt non-WWE events throughout the weekend. Jeremy Borash announced the move on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/JeremyBorash/status/847644320542859264

Video of the faction disrupting WrestleCon is now also available.

https://twitter.com/JeremyBorash/status/847662805520072705

Has Rey Mysterio joined LAX?

https://twitter.com/JeremyBorash/status/847670423969976322

The New LAX

Konnan’s LAX stable had previously been a fixture on TNA programming from 2006-08. That version of the stable consisted of Konnan, Hernandez, Homicide and for a period Shelly Martinez. The new stable consists of Konnan, Homicide, Diamante, Angel Ortiz and Mike Draztik.

LAX recently won Impact Wrestling’s tag team championships in a match that aired on last night’s show.

Impact Wrestling
March 30th 2017
Universal Studios
Orlando, FL

Karen Jarrett Segment

Karen Jarrett opens the show by cutting a promo on Sienna. Jarrett says she hears Sienna is a bully and she doesn’t like bullies. She then bullies Sienna to leave the ring area. This brings out Sienna’s cousin KM who cuts a promo on Karen. That brought out Allie and Braxton Sutter and a match between KM and Sutter is made for later in the show.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiPklHiu1x8

1. Andrew Everett vs. DJ Z

First match of the show was in the X-division. The finish of the match came when DJ Z went for a DDT but was countered into a rollup by Everett for a 3 count.
Speaking of 3-counts, after the match Gregory Helms and Lee came out and cut a promo on Everett. Helms says that next week Everett will have a chance to earn an X-division title match, though he is not told how.
Winner: Andrew Everett

Rosemary “Knockouts Burial Celebration”

Member of Decay, Rosemary, also known on the indies as Courtney Rush, has been knockouts champ for 5 months now. She mentioned how many knockouts she has disposed of. This brought out pretty much everyone in the division, starting with ODB. A few more knockouts spoke and then everything broke down into a brawl. The long and the short of it is that there are many potential challengers for Rosemary’s title. Later we find out that next week the knockouts will have a gauntlet battle royal to determine the new #1 contender.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKUc721rgWU

EC3 and James Storm Segment

EC3 cuts a promo and apologizes for his attitude towards Karen Jarrett last week. For some reason, this brings out James Storm, who was without his DCC teammates.
Storm says he built this company while EC3 was in high school or getting up to no good with his fraternity. Finally the two of them decide that the fans should decide who challenges for Bobby Lashley’s championship.

2. Impact Grand Championship Match
Moose (c) vs. Cody Rhodes

Before the start of round 3, Brandi Rhodes gives it to Cody and walks out on the match. The judges awarded a split decision to Moose, and he retains his championship. Somehow, I don’t think this match will end the rivalry between the two.
Winner: Moose (1st title defence)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INmfxjtxhfM

3. KM w/Sienna vs. Braxton Sutter w/Allie

We get our first look at Sienna’s cousin KM in this match. He came up with an impressive looking win here with a power bomb converted into a backbreaker for the pin.
KM is Kevin Matthews, a 35-year-old independent wrestler who generally competes on indies in the New York/New Jersey area.
After the match Laurel Van Ness, who looks more zombie than distraught bride now, came onto the entrance ramp. She stayed there and looked crazy for a bit until the segment ended.
Winner: KM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozbQfaS3c5Y

Before the main event we get an inside look inside LAX. The faction are seen drinking and playing cards. They appear to have made some money marketing 5150 tequila.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djkpGETqMSA

4. Impact Tag Team Championships
Decay vs. Reno Scum vs. Graza Jr & Laredo Kid vs. LAX

LAX (Santana and Ortiz) became the new Impact tag team champions by pinning Laredo Kid here. Rosemary attempted to get involved but she was thwarted by Diamante. Finish of the match came when LAX used a powerbomb/flying neck breaker combo to get the pin. Afterwards LAX celebrated in the ring.
Winners: LAX (new champions)

World of Sport (WOS) and IMPACT recently held a press conference to announce the return of wrestling on Saturday night UK Television. WOS will be running for 10 episodes on one of the UK’s biggest stations – ITV.

One of the most intriguing moves by WOS is the collaboration with IMPACT wrestling. This is easily the biggest platform that IMPACT has had outside of the United States and provides further opportunities for IMPACT to rebuild its brand after losing their slot on Challenge TV in the UK.

IMPACT recently released a highlights package of the press conference and you can see this below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBrh5ZYlH-I&feature=youtu.be

Impact Wrestling star Alberto El Patron has announced that he and WWE Superstar Paige are getting married this week. He also took aim at the ‘haters’ who are trying to destroy Paige and their relationship.

• Video: Paige Proposes To Alberto El Patron In The Ring

In a message posted on Instagram, Alberto wrote,

“I doesn’t matter how many times you try to break us… is not gonna happen… we were harassed by a company we still are… cause you don’t fool me MF’s I know I was you trying to destroy us… destroy my baby… she’s better stronger than all of you pieces of [poop emoji] We are getting married Wednesday … Have a nice [day] and go and F… yourself hatters”

Congratulations to Alblerto & Paige.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BSJyKKlAeSn

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weHeRUADlwM

This week’s Impact Wrestling on POP TV drew 305,000 viewers. This is down from last week’s 2017 high of 344,000 viewers.

Impact featured the heavily-teased return of Karen Jarrett this week. You can see the latest “Impact in 60” recap video above.

Impact ranked #115 on the cable top 150 this week, an improvement from last week’s #119 ranking.

Check out our Impact Wrestling Results and Highlights for this week’s show.

Impact Wrestling
March 23rd 2017
Orlando, FL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvlq-dw9FLI

1. Davey Richards w/Angelina Love vs. Suicide

The lone wolf picked up a near squash match level victory here, and then made out with Angelina Love for a bit. Not a bad day’s work for Richards.
Winner: Davey Richards

Laurel Van Ness has yet to wash her face or change out of her wedding dress now for multiple weeks. Her sanity is being tested after her disastrous attempt at a wedding.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9ngflchHmg

2. Fallah Bath, Idris Abraham and Mario Bokara vs. Laredo Kid, Garza Jr and Shera

A lot of new faces in this match, but for the second week in a row Laredo Kid and Garza Jr. from the Crash Lucha Libre promotion pick up the win. Fallah Bahh and Mario Bokara are the Monster Factory tag champs and made their Impact debut here. Bahh is from the Philippines and goes with a a bit of a sumo gimmick, while Bokara is from Croatia. Idris Abraham is from Michigan but they played up his Egyptian roots as this match served as a showcase for how “global” Impact is.
Winners: Laredo Kid, Garza Jr and Shera

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hk_TWwL1Qns

3. Reno Scum vs. Decay

The tag team division continues to take centre stage in Impact, as the company looks to move on from the Hardys (whilst making it more difficult for the Hardys to move on from Impact). Reno Scum pick up an upset victory here, defeating the former tag team champions. Based on how they’ve been used since the Jarretts took over, things are looking good for Reno Scum.
Winners: Reno Scum

4. Moose vs. Eli Drake

Moose is back from his Pro Wrestling NOAH trip, but he never got the chance to wrestle here. Cody, who has been challenging Moose in recent weeks, took the opportunity to attack Moose from behind with a chair, and leave him laying with the Cross Rhodes.
Result: No Contest (Cody attacked Moose pre-match)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Yp_SXuXle8

5. LAX w/Konnan vs. DCC

More action in the tag team division as the returning LAX (Homicide and Diamante wrestled here) defeated Bram and James Storm from the DCC. LAX could be considered top favourites to become the new Impact tag team champions shortly. If they do win the titles don’t expect them to defend the belts against a team from AAA however, Konnan made that fairly clear on Twitter earlier this week.
As for DCC, Storm ended up arguing after the match with Bram and Kingston, which could be an indication their faction is not long for this world.
Winners: LAX

6. ODB vs. Rebel

Knockouts division action here, with two former members of the division returning in this match. ODB took advantage of some shenanigans between Earl Hepner and Rebel however, which allowed her to pick up the victory. As such, she moves a little bit closer to title contention.
Winner: ODB

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4acMgSeThHI

7. Bobby Lashley vs. Jake Holmes

Despite losing the title a couple of weeks ago, Bobby Lashley is still the Impact Wrestling champion. He took apart Jake Holmes here in squash match style. Alberto El Patron is waiting in the wings for a future title shot however.
Winner: Bobby Lashley

The main segment to close out the show was Karen Jarrett returning, and her slapping Josh Mathews. She did not directly fire Josh however, so he might still be on commentary next week.

Konnan, who was relieved from his booking duties with AAA Lucha Libre a little over a year ago, was asked on Twitter if he had any problems with Impact Wrestling working together with AAA despite the bad blood between he and the promotion. His answer seems to indicate he is not thrilled with the deal.

no but i have nothing to do with their business and i will not work for or with AAA

— Konnan (@Konnan5150) March 20, 2017

Konnan and AAA Bad Blood

Konnan has had an on-again off-again relationship with AAA Lucha Libre ever since the beginning of his career. He became a huge star with the company in the 90s and help facilitate many luchadors from AAA going to ECW and WCW. Konnan had been the booker for the company up until early 2016, when he was relieved of such duties. Konnan has since had nothing but bad things to say about the company, especially as it concerns non-payment to some of their talent.

Konnan has been involved with the Crash promotion in Mexico this year, which also has a talent sharing relationship with Impact Wrestling. He has debuted an updated version of the LAX stable on last week’s episode of Impact Wrestling.

Impact Wrestling continues to forge alliances with international wrestling promotions. Ed Nordholm, president of Anthem Wrestling Exhibitions, has announced a partnership with Mexico’s AAA promotion.

Building bridges. Our alliance with AAA will bring the best of both promotions together @IMPACTWRESTLING @fightnet

— Ed Nordholm (@EdNordholm) March 20, 2017

It will take months before Anthem’s big picture vision for Impact Wrestling takes shape, but this is an encouraging sign. Last month Impact announced a partnership with Pro Wrestling NOAH (Japan) and are negotiating a deal with iTV’s World of Sport promotion (UK).

Impact Wrestling has an existing relationship with Mexico’s with CRASH promotion, which creates an interesting scenario because AAA and CRASH are direct competitors.

.@dorianroldan y ejecutivos de Anthem hacen oficial la alianza #AAAWorldwide e @IMPACTWRESTLING #ReyDeReyes pic.twitter.com/dskKwnnd3A

— Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (@luchalibreaaa) March 20, 2017

After an “absolutely laughable” legal proposal from Impact Wrestling regarding ownership of the “Broken Universe,” Reby Hardy is back with another Twitter rant.

https://twitter.com/RebyHardy/status/843153882276646913

https://twitter.com/RebyHardy/status/843155318217543683

https://twitter.com/RebyHardy/status/843156052891914245

https://twitter.com/RebyHardy/status/843156675834134531

https://twitter.com/RebyHardy/status/843156989509320704

https://twitter.com/RebyHardy/status/843157752176394240

https://twitter.com/RebyHardy/status/843158191659765762

https://twitter.com/RebyHardy/status/843158474020274178

https://twitter.com/RebyHardy/status/843159504070086657

https://twitter.com/RebyHardy/status/843161031513903104

https://twitter.com/RebyHardy/status/843161761352159232

https://twitter.com/RebyHardy/status/843162547092099075

https://twitter.com/RebyHardy/status/843162604285710338

https://twitter.com/RebyHardy/status/843162693599215616

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFwB3eqrYBU

This week’s Impact on POP episode drew 344,000 viewers, up from last week’s 292,000 viewers. This is a new record for this year, topping the 2/16 episode that drew 325,000 viewers.

The show featured Alberto El Patron’s second appearance for the company, The LAX returning in the main event segment and more.

Impact ranked #119 on the cable top 150 after not making the list last week.

The latest Impact In 60 recap video can be seen above.

• Check Out Our Recap for this week’s Impact Wrestling

Impact Wrestling Recap: March 16th 2017

Bruce Pritchard and Dutch Mantell convince El Patron to vacate the Impact Wrestling world championship he won last week due to all the chicanery involved in his match with Bobby Lashley. They also inform him he can’t have a title rematch unless Lashley agrees to it.

El Patron Calls Out Lashley, Gets EC3

El Patron calls out Bobby Lashley for a title match, but EC3 comes out to challenge him instead. El Patron refers to EC3 as “the b**ch*. It is later announced that EC3 and El Patron will wrestle tonight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbU8s5kPyxk

After viewing a highlight package of Decay stealing the tag titles from the Hardys via teleporting through time and deleting them, we go back to the Impact Wrestling boardroom where management discusses the need to make some decisions over who the tag belts belong to.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-c4TiXfX21A

1. Eli Drake and Tyrus vs. Laredo Kid and Garza Jr.

Before the match we are shown a video package detailing Drake and Tyrus’ history together. Laredo Kid and Garza Jr. are both from the Crash promotion, and had recently defected there from AAA. Garza Jr. rolled up Eli Drake for the pin.

Winners: Laredo Kid and Garza Jr.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAQqIR3huRg

Video highlights of Moose, Eddie Edwards and James Storm in Japan wrestling with NOAH.

2. Kacey Quinn vs. Brandi Rhodes

Just before the match starts Cody comes to the ring with his Global Force Wrestling title belt. Cody says the match isn’t going to happen, and then offers Quinn $45 to leave the ring. He runs down Moose a bunch, and then says he wants to take on Moose for the Impact Grand Championship.

Then everyone left the ring and there was no match for some reason.
Winner: No Contest

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lddCWETNeFg

We come back from commercial and Rosemary is beating up Kacey Quinn. She gives her “Red Wedding”, her music played and the segment ended.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDztYZw_e8k

3. Alberto El Patron vs. EC3

For the second week in a row El Patron faces a top talent on Impact. After a back and forth match with Patron concentrating on EC3’s arm, it looked as though EC3 was going to use a chair and get himself DQ’ed. He had second thoughts however, and his hesitation was just the opening Patron needed to hit a kick to the face and lock him in the arm bar. EC3 tapped and commentary played up that he has never done that before.
After the match El Patron clapped for Ec3 and the fans chanted for him. El Patron says that EC3 gave him one of the best matches of his career.
Winner: El Patron via submission

Backstage:
Reno Scum cut a promo backstage, say they are in Impact to win the tag team championships. They then said “Oi!” into the camera several times. 

EC3 is upset backstage after his loss, Bruce Pritchard attempts to calm him down but we don’t get any audio. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIRJ9CYACZs

4. X-Division Championship Match
4-Way
Suicide vs. Andrew Everett vs. Braxton Sutter vs. Trevor Lee (c) w/ Shane Helms

Several back and forth X-division spots were followed by Laurel Van Ness coming to ringside, still in her wedding dress. She waved and blew kisses at Allie until Sienna came to the ring. Sienna told the Allie and Braxton Sutter they would meet their “tragic demise”.

Tag Team Division Turmoil

Bruce Pritchard came out to address the tag team title situation, which brought out several teams from the division. Pritchard announced that in 2 weeks there would be 4 teams competing for the championships. Reno Scum, Laredo Kid & Garza Jr, and Decay were already out there so there was only one spot left.

The returning LAX crashed the party and took out everyone in the ring. This new version of LAX includes old members Konnan and Homicide along with new members Mike Draztik, Angel Ortiz and Angel Rose.

Reby Hardy is thanking fans for the “tremendous” outpouring of support for the Hardy family following their departure from Impact Wrestling. You’ve probably seen Reby Hardy’s Twitter rants over the past week, a reaction to Anthem attempting to block Matt Hardy from using his “Broken Universe” outside of Impact Wrestling.

• Reby Hardy Rants About Impact Wrestling’s Business Practices

Anthem is accused of sending cease and desist letters to Ring of Honor and various cable providers who carried last week’s ROH 15th Anniversary PPV featuring Matt and Jeff.  In response to the fan support, Reby Hardy unveiled a new t-shirt on sale at Matt Hardy’s official online store.

https://twitter.com/RebyHardy/status/841392118144868352

Update: Matt Hardy says they sold 500 shirts in less than 24 hours and another 1,000 will be in stock by tonight.

Queen Rebecca sold the complete first order, 500 shirts, in LESS THAN 24 HOURS. That's WWE numbers.

1000 more will be in stock this eve. https://t.co/oDwzhK9de4

— MATT HARDY (@MATTHARDYBRAND) March 14, 2017

https://twitter.com/MattJackson13/status/841714434774986753

Alberto El Patron has surrendered the Impact Wrestling World Championship. Last week on Impact, Patron made a surprise debut and scored a pinfall victory Bobby Lashley. However, he got the win after smashing Lashley in the face with the title.

During a meeting with Impact Wrestling board members including Bruce Prichard and Dutch Mantell, it was decided that El Patron’s victory be overturned due to the controversial nature of the finish. El Patron resisted at first, but admitted it was the right thing to do when prompted to consider how his father, Mexican wrestling legend Dos Caras, would handle the situation. He agreed to give up the title with the assurance that he’ll get a rematch against Lashley. Prichard and Mantell said he can have a rematch if Bobby Lashley agrees to it. (See below)

Many fans have been speculating this storyline will serve as an opportunity for Impact Wrestling to introduce a new championship belt that does not feature the retired “TNA” name on it. Tune in to Impact Wrestling this coming Thursday on Pop for the latest.