Oh, you didn’t know? The latest interview for my book about the first 20 years of TNA/IMPACT Wrestling was with the legendary Brian James. As someone who grew up watching Brian as The Roadie with Jeff Jarrett, Road Dogg in The New Age Outlaws and D-Generation X, and B.G. James in TNA, I was thrilled to have the chance to speak with him at length.
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IMPACT Wrestling fans around the world, your voices have been heard! Beginning this Thursday, July 14th, new episodes of classic IMPACT! from 2008-2013 will be available on IMPACT Plus for the first time ever. Read on for more details.
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Kenny Omega’s arrival in IMPACT sent shockwaves all through the wrestling world. Omega made his in-ring debut at Hard To Kill as the team of him and The Good Brothers faced the trio of Rich Swann, Moose and Chris Sabin. Despite an impressive fight from the IMPACT trio, Omega pinned Swann and set in motion a historic title match. Swann would survive a difficult challenge against Moose at Sacrifice before an even bigger challenge was coming. At Rebellion in April, the IMPACT World Champion Rich Swann would face the AEW World Champion Kenny Omega in a Title vs. Title match.
Continue readingOur World Changed in 2020. It’s easy to think about how 2020 changed the world in many ways but Slammiversary was an industry shaking event. For weeks beforehand, anticipation built around just who would appear at IMPACT’s yearly anniversary PPV extravaganza. At least one former World Champion was promised, many other debuts and returns were teased – but just exactly who and how many people would be appearing at Slammiversary was anybody’s guess. Slammiversary came and blew away all expectations.
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As Brian Cage ramped up his pursuit of the IMPACT World Championship, Johnny IMPACT became increasingly insecure – looking to do anything he could to hang onto gold. He just about escaped from Homecoming with the title, fending off Brian Cage’s Option C challenge, but The Machine’s chase was only beginning. As Cage got closer and closer to Johnny, Johnny cracked under pressure – using corrupt official John E. Bravo to keep the title around his waist as Johnny and Taya Valkyrie looked to rule IMPACT. Brian Cage would finally get another shot at Rebellion – this time with special referee Lance Storm in place to ensure that Johnny couldn’t tilt the scales in his favor in any way. Cage defeated Johnny in Toronto to capture the richest prize in IMPACT Wrestling.
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This Sunday, IMPACT Wrestling celebrates its 20th anniversary at Slammiversary. Josh Alexander and Eric Young took part in an IMPACT Press Pass yesterday where they answered questions from the media. Questions included those focused on their big main event, their thoughts on the 20th anniversary of IMPACT Wrestling, and more. Hosted by D’Lo Brown and featuring a special appearance by Scott D’Amore, this is one IMPACT Press Pass you don’t want to miss. Watch the full Press Pass below.
Continue readingSantana and Ortiz carried on the LAX name with honor, living up the tremendous legacy of Homicide and Hernandez. However, the original LAX weren’t exactly pleased to see their spotlight taken by a younger generation. After over a year dominating the tag team division, Eddie Kingston arrived in IMPACT with a worrying message – Konnan had been taken out but he was here to steer the ship in Konnan’s absence. Diamante was skeptical of Kingston at first but over time he earned Santana and Ortiz’s trust and helped lead them back to the Tag Team Titles. All was well in LAX until Konnan returned.
Continue readingEli Drake’s loud mouth and brash attitude immediately got attention when he debuted in 2015. From his time in The Rising to his run as King of the Mountain Champion to his rivalry with EC3 – people immediately identified him as a future World Champion. Lashley defeated Eddie Edwards to regain the title in a classic 30 Minute Iron Man at Genesis but a Gauntlet for the Gold in August for the vacant championship gave Drake his best chance yet. He overcame 20 men including former champions Eddie Edwards, Lashley and EC3 as well as the debuting Johnny IMPACT to become champion. Drake then immediately entered a rivalry with Johnny including main eventing Bound For Glory, but Drake would hang onto the title for the rest of the year.
Continue readingBroken. No single word defines 2016 more. EC3 won the World Title Series to become World Champion for the second time but this would set Matt Hardy on a completely different path. After coming up short multiple times and having his crowning moment taken away from him at Bound For Glory, Matt Hardy turned to a different approach to capture the World Championship. Tyrus turned on EC3, helping Hardy capture gold and beginning the birth of “Broken” Matt Hardy. When Drew Galloway used his Feast or Fired case to take the World Championship from Matt, Matt lost it thinking his brother had betrayed him. Jeff Hardy beat Matt Hardy in an I Quit match after a Swanton Bomb from the very top of the IMPACT Zone and Matt was never the same.
Continue readingFrom the moment he arrived in TNA in October 2013, EC3 was destined for greatness. Part of that was nepotism of course – he was Dixie Carter’s nephew after all – but the larger part was he could back it up in the ring. EC3 defeated everybody that was put in front of him – with legends like Sting, Kurt Angle, Jeff Hardy, Bully Ray, Rhino, Austin Aries and Eric Young all failing to defeat the cocky upstart. For all of this he had the loyal and steadfast Rockstar Spud by his side. Many of those victories came with an assist from Spud, but after Dixie Carter was powerbombed through a table the relationship between Spud and EC3 began to fracture. This culminated in a memorable Hair vs. Hair encounter in Wembley Arena in London as a bloody and resilient Spud fought with absolutely everything he had to take down his old friend EC3, but ultimately came up short. Spud’s head was shaved bald.
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