Hi folks! Today, let’s look at the Top 5 Impact Wrestling stars of 2022. Of course, this list is subjective, so I encourage you to include your own top 5 in the comments. Before we move on, let’s look at some honorable mentions:
Eric Young & Violent By Design: Despite not seeing as much success as previous years, Eric Young and his stable, Violent By Design, has consistently provided quality storytelling outside of Impact’s World & Knockouts Championship scenes. EY has had plenty of time to develop the stable, which saw the rise of Joe Doering, who is sadly battling cancer at the moment. Also, he has helped to develop Deaner to where he now stands as a leader of “The Design”, a group continuing the legacy of VBD after EY’s demise. His exceptional work since returning to Impact will probably land him another contract with WWE in 2023.
Eddie Edwards: Through the incoherent mess that has been Impact’s tag team division in 2022, Eddie Edwards stood out as the leader of Honor No More. Although unsuccessful at dethroning Josh Alexander for the World Championship, he remains a reliable hand for Impact Wrestling. He helped to make a deal out of The Kingdom, and PCO, whose futures are up in the air (can The Kingdom break through in AEW?), but I believe he did as well as he could with what creative gave him. Eddie Edwards remains one of Impact Wrestling’s staples, no matter what role they ask him to undertake.
#5. ‘Speedball’ Mike Bailey
After signing a contract in late-2021, Mike Bailey made his debut at Hard To Kill with a win in a four-way X Division match. It set the tone for a year which saw him become (by winning Ultimate X), in my opinion, the best X Division Champion of 2022. He had many credible title defenses that meant it didn’t hurt to lose the championship to a veteran like Frankie Kazarian.
His success in the X Division got him to a place where he wrestled an hour long main event with the World Champion Josh Alexander, which nobody else can say they have done. As far as the male roster goes, Mike Bailey is by far the best newcomer, and 2023 should see him get one step closer to the World Heavyweight Championship.
#4. Mickie James
Beginning the year as Impact’s Knockouts Champion, many may have forgotten that she made history by entering WWE’s Royal Rumble. WWE referred to her as the “Impact Women’s Champion”, but few promotions can say that WWE allowed their champions to carry their title to the ring and wrestle on one of the biggest PPVs of the year.
WWE has been so far in its own universe that this scenario never seemed plausible. However, they seriously needed to fill the Women’s Royal Rumble with credible names, so they struck a deal with Impact to make it happen. The cool thing is that Mickie James was not jobbed out after a minute. WWE respected her talent enough to grant her close to 12 minutes and 1 elimination (the woman who called her “Piggy James”, Michelle McCool).
Mickie James lost the title to Tasha Steelz in March, at Sacrifice, and failed to regain it. Since then, she let it be known that she would undertake her “Last Rodeo”, so the next time she loses a match, she will retire. Starting from the bottom, Mickie James has developed a winning streak, and will face Jordynne Grace at Hard To Kill next month. With title & career on the line, it’s a sweet culmination of what the Knockouts Division has done so well this year.
Outside the World Championship, I’d say the Knockouts have stolen the show more often than not, and a big part of that can be credited to Mickie James. She has brought plenty of credibility to the division. She may be on the way out, but she has been generous in getting fresh faces over, so that the Knockouts Division will continue to thrive when she steps away. 2022 is likely to be her last full year as an active competitor, so it makes sense to pay tribute by including her among the best in Impact Wrestling.
WATCH: Mickie James Had A Magical Experience At The 2022 Royal Rumble
#3. Masha Slamovich
I kid you not. Out of all the newcomers I have seen this year, whether they have wrestled for WWE, AEW, Impact, or anywhere else, Masha Slamovich ranks up there as one of the best. Throughout 2022, they slowly built Slamovich up as a monster. She wasted little time destroying her opponents before finishing them with The Snowplow. The Russian doesn’t speak much, and when she does, it’s rarely in English; which I believe adds to her aura.
Her gimmick sees her handing over a piece of paper with an image of her next opponent, with a red “X” over them, to get into their head long before they step into the ring. This worked so effectively that Masha Slamovich found herself as a title contender after Jordynne Grace defeated Tasha Steelz at Slammiversary. It seemed so incredibly likely that Masha would defeat Grace and her reign of terror over the Knockouts Division would begin. In the co-main event of Bound For Glory, we saw an epic title vs. streak contest, where Slamovich fell short and picked up her first loss in Impact Wrestling.
A month later, at Over Drive, the two fought again, but this time in a Last Woman Standing. Even more so after losing at Bound For Glory, many fans expected this to be the crowning of Slamovich… but it wasn’t. She lost that match too, and it’s tough to see where she goes from here. Impact has done so well with building Slamovich up as an unstoppable monster that, without winning the title, has still had an incredible year. It doesn’t seem a matter of if, but when, Masha wins it. The way she goes about her business, I feel like she’d be exceedingly hard to beat when she gets there. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see her become one of the longest reigning Knockouts Champions of all time.
#2. Jordynne Grace
Since 2018, Impact Wrestling has done its best to build up Jordynne Grace as the face of the Knockouts Division. Not only by having her win women’s titles but also by becoming the inaugural Digital Media Champion in a six-way intergender match. While a controversial practice to some, Impact isn’t shy about pitting men against women in the ring, and Jordynne Grace is somebody who doesn’t care who stands across from her. There is no fear, and she has improved every part of her game. There is an astounding difference from when she made her debut. She has gotten in better shape, seems more comfortable on a microphone, and her ring work has much improved too.
Yes, she has made some questionable remarks on Twitter, like when she said Chris Benoit could not “hang with most of the wrestler’s today, and he should burn in hell”. Fortunately, Grace backtracked by making a sincere apology after getting in touch with David Benoit, Chavo Guerrero, and Chris Jericho. They further educated her about the tragedy and how to be more sensitive about it. This situation did not hurt her position, as she continued to succeed by defeating Tasha Steelz for the title at Slammiversary.
She is the longest reigning Knockouts Champion of 2022. Twice defeating who many thought was an unstoppable Masha Slamovich, is as impressive as it is tantamount to how much the company relies on her. With Mickie James challenging her at Hard To Kill, Grace is the most likely to end the veteran’s career. It wouldn’t make sense for James to put her career on the line and then win the title, unless Impact goes about it unexpectedly… which is what creative has done so well since Scott D’Amore took over. I believe that Mickie James has been built up to this moment to help Jordynne Grace reach the next level. This would make it so losing the title to somebody like Masha Slamovich would mean so much more in 2023.
After covering Impact Wrestling all year, my belief is that the Knockouts have carried much of it. The X Division has had its moments, while the tag team division has been all over the place. Scott D’Amore’s booking of the Knockouts has been sublime, and I hope this trend continues next year. With Jordynne Grace leading the way, it proves that almost 15 years since introducing the Knockouts title, it still builds new stars who may one day be recognized as some of the best women’s wrestlers of all time.
#1. Josh Alexander
When we think of World Champions other than Roman Reigns, nobody has had a better year than Josh Alexander. In October 2021, Josh Alexander defeated Christian Cage for the World title, only to be screwed over by Moose, who cashed in his “Call Your Shot” privilege to take it away. Alexander fought hard to get back into World Championship contention. After a bitter, personal rivalry involving his family, he earned his opportunity in April. Josh got his retribution by defeating Moose for the title at Rebellion, and has been unstoppable ever since.
Here’s a list of challengers Josh Alexander has defeated (or retained against) since becoming champion: Moose, Tomohiro Ishii, Gabriel Fuerza (in DWW), Eric Young, Joe Doering, Jacob Fatu (draw at Ric Flair’s Last Match), Alex Shelley, Masha Slamovich (in AAW), 1 Called Manders (Wrestling Revolver), Eddie Edwards (at Bound For Glory), Bobby Fish, Frankie Kazarian, and Mike Bailey.
Alexander is a fighting champion who deeply cares about Impact Wrestling. In the past, he has stated that he grew up watching legends like AJ Styles, Kurt Angle, and others who inspired him to become a wrestler. Josh has incorporated some of these legends moves into his arsenal, and not to be insulting, but to pay tribute to what they helped build. He isn’t a nostalgia act, as Josh has plenty of his own moves and ways of doing things. He’s a proper wrestler doing it cleanly, and it’s rare to find babyfaces in this era who can carry a company without fans turning on them.
One of the biggest moments of 2022 involved Bully Ray threatening to power bomb his wife in front of him. Like Moose, Ray has made his feud with Alexander deeply personal, although he will probably say this is him going about his usual business. Bully won the Call Your Shot Gauntlet, which earned him the right to choose when he would challenge for the Impact World Heavyweight Championship. Instead of springing it on him by surprise (like Moose), Ray told Alexander to his face that it would happen at Hard To Kill, the very moment before grabbing and threatening to harm his wife.
Josh Alexander has had a wonderful year that often saw him wrestling main events as the promotion’s #1 talent. He ends the year with a credible threat from a man who is as experienced as he is ruthless. Bully Ray is a new challenge for the World Champion, and one that no Impact Wrestling fan will forget in a hurry. With that said, I thank everybody who followed my coverage of Impact this year. Despite its shortcomings, it remains a show I look forward to each week, and that won’t change in 2023. Please let me know who impressed you the most this year in the comments. Have a lovely holiday, and thank you for reading!
Also Read: 4 Early Career Matches Of WWE’s Most Experienced Superstars (Videos)
