Impact Wrestling’s kicking off 2020 in style, and after struggling for a very long time, a bit of swagger. Now, as you know in my Impact Profiles series, I’ve called Impact Wrestling the promotion that just won’t die. And it seems Impact’s either feeling the same way or ripping off my writing (in which case, someone cut me a check please), because coming to you live, January 12th, 2020, from the Bomb Factory in Dallas, TX, Impact Wrestling presents Hard to Kill.
It feels good to write that. For the past few years, Impact’s struggled to get on PPV, depending mostly on ‘special editions’ of Impact, One Night Only Twitch specials, and co-branding with other promotions to keep something coming on a regular basis.
But 2020 is the start of a new decade, and Impact’s got some momentum going their way. They’re ready to make a move, and they’re eager to show off the best they’ve got.
In some ways this show’s been booked for a long time. Impact pre-tapes their shows well in advance, and as such dirt sheet readers have known the main event matches since the middle of October. On the other hand at times it feels slightly rushed simply because Impact is putting Hard To Kill on right after the holiday period. When you include the Thanksgiving special ‘throwback’ episode, and the two Year in Review/award show episodes, they’ve already given up nearly a month’s worth of programming to get ready.
But top to bottom, this is an exciting card. Not every match is going to be five star, and as I’ve mentioned in Impact Profiles, sometimes you just might scratch your head at some of the performers.
On the other hand, Impact’s got some of the hottest talents in indy wrestling right now. Some people would say they’ve got some of the hottest talents in wrestling, period. So without further ado, let’s do a rundown, along with my predictions!
Ken Shamrock vs. Madman Fulton
On the one hand, I’m almost surprised Shammy’s stuck around this long. I really had him pegged for a one time special appearance kind of guy. But perhaps Impact’s condensed taping schedule’s helped in that regard, and he’s sticking around longer. After all, three night’s work turning into three months of TV time has to be great for the veteran.
And I’m glad that Impact’s giving Madman Fulton something to do besides tag team matches with oVe or running interference. Fulton’s a talented worker, and he’s been booked well as a big man.
As such, I see the logic. Ken Shamrock’s known to snap, and Fulton is just snapped. So having two maniacs go at it makes sense. Don’t expect this to be a scientific display of grappling prowess. Expect this to be brutal, relatively short, and with a lot of high impact offense. The only question is, will it be Shamrock getting a win to stay at roughly .500 with the company, or will he once again put over the younger talent?
My gut says Fulton. He needs a win for his PPV singles debut, since he has so few singles matches. The question will be what Impact does with him if they do give him the duke.
Predicted Winner: Madman Fulton
Moose vs. Rhino
In my Impact Profiles series, I noted that most of the ECW alumni have contented themselves with more or less rehashing matches with each other. And just when I get done saying that… Impact has Moose do a program with Rhino.
In a lot of ways this makes sense. Moose needs to have a program to do. His arrogant Perfect-esque character is still a work in progress, showing a lot of refinement over the past few weeks. But he needs something to really bring it into focus.
Enter Rhino. The Man-Beast is still able to work the power game reasonably well, and he’s the sort of veteran threat that promotions love to have their near-top guys get wins over in order to prove their legitimacy.
The build up to this has been elementary, but at the same time works. Moose basically tells Rhino his day is past, Rhino wants to kick his ass… a few backstage fights, and boom, match made.
Again, don’t expect anything technical out of this match. If this match goes fifteen minutes total it’s too long, so expect it to be short and sweet. Considering this seems to be a way to keep Moose on TV while keeping him out of the main event picture currently, expect a Go To Hell, a spear, and a Moose win.
Predicted Winner: Moose
Brian Cage vs. Rob Van Dam
Man, where did this match come from? Yet again we see an ECW alum tangling with the young generation, and once again it actually makes sense.
RVD’s heel turn has been both great and cringeworthy. On one hand, Rob’s beef that nearly everything the young generation is doing can be traced back to stuff he innovated twenty years ago is pretty legit. RVD really did push boundaries, showing that athleticism and hardcore and impactful could all go together. And he’s acting like a jerk quite a bit recently.
On the other hand, Rob’s always been pretty cringeworthy on the microphone, and having Katie Forbes with him isn’t doing that any favors. Sure, Katie does have a very strong skanky porn star vibe to her, which matches with Rob’s current midlife crisis lifestyle. On the other hand, she’s no Pieter or prime Kimona Wanalaya. She looks pretty well used, in other words.
Brian Cage, for his part, represents the new generation. He’s bigger, he’s stronger, and he can fly just as well as RVD could in his prime. And he’s looking for that shot of momentum now that he’s no longer the Impact World Champion.
This one’s a tossup to me. I don’t really want to see RVD win, I think his midlife crisis schtick is not all that entertaining. It’s like the segments of ECW that nobody really talks about anymore because, well, they honestly weren’t that good. Don’t shoot me for that, I’m just the messenger. That being said, I don’t think Impact’s ready to bury all the old ECW fans, and Rob could be in line for an X-Division or even a World title shot down the line.
On the other hand, Cage is one of the keystone heavyweights of the Impact roster. When you’ve got a guy like him, you need to keep him winning, and having him lose to a man twenty years younger than him could be damaging.
Predicted Winner: RVD via outside shenanigans
Eddie Edwards vs. Michael Elgin
Throw out any storyline about the ‘Call Your Shot Trophy,’ Impact’s version of Money In The Bank. Forget scientific grappling.
These two guys just want to beat the hell out of each other. Elgin wants to prove he’s the toughest, meanest guy in Impact. Eddie Edwards basically likes to fight. Sure, they’ve put the Trophy up for grabs, but in the end it comes down to two guys just beating the crap out of each other. And whoever wins could just be a future Impact champion.
This one is, in my opinion, a real tossup. Elgin is very strongly recently, and even has a win over Eddie going into this on the January 7th Impact. And a heel Elgin with a guaranteed title opportunity? Storylines just write themselves there.
On the other hand Eddie seems to have earned the respect and trust of Impact management again recently, having won more often than he’s lost. And he connects with the crowd in a way Elgin just doesn’t.
Simply to provide some balance to a card that’s already been pretty heel heavy here, I’m going to go with my gut. Unfortunately it means some 50/50 booking here, but that’s the breaks.
Predicted Winner: Eddie Edwards
World Tag Team Championship Match: The North (Ethan Page & Josh Alexander) (c) vs. Rich Swann & Willie Mack
If you’d asked me a month ago who was going to win this match, I’d have said The North easily. Page & Alexander have been very strong, and Impact likes to give champs in rebuilding divisions long runs with the belts. Besides, while Rich Swann and Willie Mack work well together, they still don’t quite have that team vibe that Impact likes in their champs. They’re still referred to by their individual names rather than a team name, for Pete’s sake.
Add to that the storyline ‘stress’ between Swann & Mack, and things get clearer. A good match, probably some good spots in there, and The North wins. Swann & Mack then can then fight over Willie trying to get his mojo back.
Then Josh Alexander injured his arm in late November. For a few weeks, Impact’s done a good job of hiding it, and I’ll give them credit for that. Rather than stripping The North of their championships right off the bat, they’ve given Alexander time to try and heal and rehab.
The question is, is seven or so weeks enough time? A biceps tear is a tricky injury. Some athletes, from bodybuilders to football players, have come back in that amount of time. But it can also shelve you for a long time. If it’s the former, and Josh can at least play a good role in the match before nursing the injury through the next set of tapings and onto three more weeks of rest, expect The North to stand tall.
On the other hand, if Alexander really is hobbled, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Swan & Mack take the titles. Still, Impact’s going to be real wary of pulling the trigger on a title switch here. The North’s just starting to gain momentum. Expect Page to handle the majority of the match, and even if they lose, they’ll keep the belts via DQ or something.
Predicted Winner: The North (retain belts even if they lose)
3-Way Knockouts Championship Match: Taya Valkyrie (c) vs. Jordynne Grace vs. ODB
Talk about a match that was clear cut until a few weeks ago. If you’d asked me when Impact wrapped up their latest tapings if Taya was going to retain the Knockouts Championship, I would have told you damn straight.
Let’s face it. Jordynne Grace isn’t as over with the crowd as Taya. She needs seasoning still, and the fact that Impact booked ODB into this match told me that they wanted to protect Jordynne. It was no lose for ODB, who I figured would take the pin from Taya. ODB gets a paycheck and can rebuild her food truck life, Taya gets to cement her name as the Knockouts Champ to measure everyone against, and Jordynne can say she didn’t win, but she didn’t lose either.
One door opening on Smackdown threw all of this into disarray. Now you have to wonder if the Queen of Slamtown is going to be looking to join her husband in WWE. I said in my Impact Profile I don’t think it’d be a good match for her, but at 36 Taya doesn’t exactly have a lot of years left to try and have her WrestleMania moment. And with Johnny going back to WWE, perhaps the door’s open for her.
That being said, I don’t see Impact pulling the trigger on a title change just yet. Taya’s contract is up or nearing being up, and after all she’s done she deserves a farewell match to Impact. And I just don’t see Jordynne Grace being deserving of sending La Wera Loca packing.
Predicted Winner: Taya Valkyrie
X-Division Championship Match: Ace Austin vs. Trey Miguel
Man, I said back in one of my previous articles that Impact needs to work on giving their wrestlers characters, and have they delivered here! There’s a lot of reasons for guys to want to beat the crap out of each other, but wanting to sleep with a guy’s mom? Yeah, that’ll do.
Now, do I agree with booking such an angle? Honestly, I could do without it. I think there’s a lot of ways to make a guy a disgusting Lothario type character without him hitting on people’s moms and wives. Especially because Ace Austin just isn’t all that good looking. That being said, it’s a step up from Alisha Edwards. Best of all, Trey Miguel shows more personality and depth of character now than just being a guy who gets stoned backstage.
Again though, is Impact ready to pull the trigger on a title change? I don’t think so. Ace just won the belt on the last PPV, and in a rebuilding X Division he needs to hang onto that belt a little bit longer. That’s not to say that I can’t see Trey Miguel becoming a champ at some point… but tonight’s not Trey’s night.
Let’s just hope it’s not Trey’s Mom’s night either.
Predicted Winner: Ace Austin
Impact World Championship Match: Sami Callihan (c) vs. Tessa Blanchard
First off, before we give the rundown on this match, let me be blunt. If you’re one of those types who don’t like intergender wrestling, who is going to scroll down to post something about how a 130 lb Tessa beating a 220 lb Sami is unbelievable while ignoring the same physics at play in just about any Rey Misterio or Braun Strowman match, just stop reading. Go make your post down below, call me names, and move on with your day.
Because the simple fact is, these two wrestlers are the hottest talents in indy wrestling right now. And Tessa Blanchard is quite simply the best female wrestler in North America, maybe even the best on the planet.
There’s everything you want in this match. Good workers. Grudging respect becoming pure, utter hatred. A long history of the underdog babyface throwing herself at the villain only to be denied time after time after time. Outside interference, blood, sweat, tears… Impact’s done a masterful job of booking this feud.
And I don’t think it’s going to be over after this. Let me put that front and center.
However, I do think this is the time to pull the trigger on a title switch. Yeah, Sami’s only had the belt for about 80 days at the time of the PPV. Yeah, I’ve said time and time again that Impact likes giving their champs long runs with the belt.
But this switch comes down to timing. In my article on if wrestling can be cool again, I noted that drawing things out and trying to force timing kills too many angles. Well right now is Tessa’s time. Six months of building, of her overcoming the odds only to be denied time and time again culminate here.
Now’s the payoff. A new year, a new decade, a new belt design, and a new champ. She proves that not only is Impact hard to kill, Tessa Blanchard’s hard to kill, too.
And it sets up a rubber match between the two. Sami has one victory at Slammiversary 2019. Tessa will have this match. The finale of their trio can complete the year at Slammiversary 2020. The only question will be if Tessa has the belt still at that point.
The fantasy booker in me says yes. Tessa wins the belt here, and each challenger post-Hard To Kill is basically taken our or interfered with by Sami, who can play the obsessed psycho better than anyone. This culminates in the finale, a steel cage match or even an old Impact standby, the Lockdown match. These two deserve the Impact version of Hell In A Cell to cap this feud.
Either way, I expect the 2019 Impact Wrestler of the Year to be standing tall with the biggest belt in the promotion at the end of the night.
Predicted Winner: Tessa Blanchard
So there you have it! Top to bottom, this is one exciting card. In my opinion, it’s a tighter, better card than The Royal Rumble two weeks later. It’s Impact’s first chance to stake a claim in the crowded pro wrestling landscape of 2020, and I expect them to make it a good one.
